Thieves and Guards
by readwithcats
Summary: Levy is a thief who steals books and jewelry. Gajeel is the new city guard commander who is dead set on catching Levy. What happens when Levy gets accused of murder? Levy says she didn't do it but is she telling the truth? First fanfic, I hope it's good. It's rated T because I'm paranoid. Gajevy and slight NaLu. Please review! Re-did the prologue. Now COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**I re-did the prologue, hope it's better now.**

 **Prologue**

 ** _(Re-written Prologue)_**

Mavis Vermillion was a famous thief and she was known as the Elder of thieving because she would rescue fellow thieves when they got caught, provided a hide out for them, and was called the best thief of the century. She was well known not just to thieves but to bounty hunters, mercenaries, guards and civilians. In fact, she had friends that were bounty hunters and mercenaries, they were called Precht, Warrod Sequen, and Yuri Dreyar, Yuri was a bounty hunter while Precht and Warrod Sequen were mercenaries.

Yuri, Precht, and Warrod had met and become friends before they encountered Mavis. They met Mavis when she was trying to steal a jewel that was a heirloom for a family. Yuri was trying to catch her because she had one of the biggest bounty on her head and Precht and Warrod were hired as guards for the heirloom. Mavis never kept it a secret of what she going to steal, because she wanted it to be a challenge so she always left a card giving a hint of where she was going to strike next.

The three of them caught her or as much as she was going to allow herself to be caught, and Yuri challenged her to a game confident he was going to win because he was going against a mere child. She was young when she started being a thief. As it turned out, Yuri lost and so Mavis left with the jewel, Yuri got shouted at but then Mavis was waiting at the place they had been staying at and proposed a plan to get money. The plan was that the people she would be stealing from would hire Precht and Warrod by saying they had caught her once already. Yuri would help out by pretending to go after her. They reluctantly accepted the proposal and formed Fairy Tail, the safe haven for thieves.

Zeref was a guard who had caught several notorious thieves and was determined to catch Mavis in particular. He was the first guards to catch on to Mavis's scheme with the three new friends she had made and so he started going after them as well but Mavis made sure they didn't caught. After all they were her _nakuma,_ she wasn't going to allow them to get caught on watch. Zeref wasn't very social so he didn't have many friends but he did have a younger brother who he cared for dearly.

Zeref had met Mavis before she became a thief and they had been the best of friends or at least Zeref had thought so. Now he wasn't sure, she had backstabbed him when she became a thief because she had known that he was a guard. And it was a guard's duty to catch criminals which included thieves. So he chased her out of revenge and out of his guards duty and he finally caught her.

He caught her when she ran out of Fairy Tail crying saying that it was her fault Rita died, she had wanted to take the job even though Rita pregnant. Zeref followed her curious about what she was talking about, however she knew he was there and so she asked him to come out. He does asking why she was crying. She responds by saying that Yuri's wife died because of the stress of the job that Mavis had wanted to do and so when she gave birth afterwards she died. And it was all her fault.

Zeref didn't like her crying and blaming herself for something that wasn't her fault so he kissed her, and since he was obliged to capture her or kill her, he picked the one that would stop her pain and her crying, the latter. He killed her with his sword that had killed many criminals just like her, he thought as he cried over the loss of his best friend, lover, and the first person who understood him for who he was. When Zeref realized he was crying, he wondered why he was crying, all while a part of him was still grieving her death.

Zeref grew a hatred for Elders and their villages where it was perfect. The guards he worked with became worried and afraid of him because he would have moments where it was like his sanity was no longer there. Soon after they appeared, there were scarcely any days where he didn't have an episode.

Guards eventually tried to arrest him when he murdered an Elder right in front of several other guards. (Keyword) tried, they did not succeed, and instead he escaped and killed two of the seven guards. After that he vanished and Elders began die out…

 **Thieves and guards**

The house was quiet except for an occasional creak of a loose floorboard. A grandfather clock dinged for midnight and, as it had been planned yesterday, a small slimmed shaped human slipped in the house. The human slipped in by a window right next to the the clock that way the person could here when it was time to start the robbery.

That person was named Levy McGarden. She was a notorious thief who was well known to steal the most expensive jewelry and for some reason unknown to people books. Only her closest friends knew why she stole them and they weren't about to betray her so it would stay that way.

As she was walking down the hall to the safe, her foot stepped on a loose floorboard.

 _Creak._

Luckily, as she was told by friends several times a day, she was short and did not weigh much so the creak wasn't loud enough to wake the people in the house. But she knew it was no reason to get careless so she stayed sharp for the remainder of the heist. That was the only incident that happened that night.

"Hey, levy! Let me guess it went smoothly." Said Lucy as she walked up to me with a grin on her face. She was my best friend and we trusted each other so much we had done a couple of the best robberies known in this world.

" If it hadn't, I wouldn't be here would I, Lucy." I responded with a smirk.

" Guess so" she replies with a sigh, "not everyone's as good as you are, Levy."

I frowned we had gotten over the jealous stage a while back so what had brought it back.

" I know but what brought this back up, Lucy?" I ask hoping to get a straight answer.

"Nothing much" replied Lucy. I narrow my eyes ,but I let it go she'll tell me what's bothering her eventually. "So tell me what did you steal and who were the lucky people?" She said with a mischievous glint in her eyes and the wide grin was back on her pretty face. I can't help but smile back. " When we get to a safer place" I promise. We were in the middle of town and they were a couple of guards standing guard the market stalls around us.

When we finally arrive to the 'safe place' it was midday and I was starving. Our safe place was called Fairy tail because nobody knows if fairy's have tails. So it worked for us nobody knows where our safe place is or if it even exists. The legendary thief Mavis had created it as a safe haven and nobody ever found out that is where the thieves like me hung out. It was a decent sized building that had a faded sign and some of the wood was rotting but it wouldn't collapse very easily considering all the fights we have inside.

Lucy walks off to meet her partner Nastu who was the most ridiculous thief ever but he has only been caught a couple of times. But since he's so dense the guards always think he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Which works out for him and us because then they don't think of interrogating him for information. I sigh, I don't know how Lucy can handle him, I know I couldn't.

While Lucy walks off, I go to our makeshift bar/diner and sit down on one of the stools.

"Hey, Mira!" I greet the white haired barmaid," could I get some lemonade and some bread."

" Coming right to see you, levy, did you pull a difficult one? Meet anyone I should know about?" She asks with a scary glint in her eyes. I shrink back.

"No there's no one" once she smiles a normal smile I respond to her first question.

"It was a mediocre one, you know how it is."

"That's good" she says with a knowing smile handing me my lemonade and bread.

"Hey can I have some too, Mira?" Says Lucy who had come back after telling Natsu to stop fighting Gray. Mira nods and turns around to go get the lemonade and bread.

"So tell me the details of the job you did, Levy," she asks once Mira's gone.

"I stole the first edition copy of the last Harry Potter which was held at the Duke's house. It was surprisingly easy but then not a lot of people protect their books as much as there jewelry. Thought there was one close call..." I drag it out to make it more dramatic and it works Lucy is leaning in to make sure hears what happen. "When I stepped on a loose floorboard but I was light enough for it not to creak to loud."

"Your way to lucky for your own good, one day you're going to to get careless so be careful," Mira says bringing the lemonade and bread for Lucy making both me and Lucy jump in surprise. That's the thing, Mira was one of the best thieves at Fairy tail but after her younger sister Lisanna got caught on a heist they did together, she stopped. However, she still walked very lightly so most of the time you couldn't hear her.

" I have to agree with Mira on this one Levy," Lucy says sympathetically and then all of a sudden her face is stern and worried, "Also Levy there's a new guard commander and he dead set on catching you. I asked around and people say he's caught some of grimore hearts thieves and a tartaros thief. " Mira's face had become worried too while listening to Lucy talk.

" What's his name?" I ask.

" Gajeel," this time it's Mira who answers.

In the guards building, the new commander sneezes while looking over a list of a stolen property stolen by a certain thief.

"Sir, the thief has struck again." A breathless guard said, it was obvious he had run all the way here to say that.

The commander cursed under his breath but still asked," what was stolen and what time did it occur at?"

" The stolen object was a first edition of the last book in the series of Harry Potter and it occurred somewhere around midnight,sir."

"You are dismissed." Replied Gajeel who once the guard had left added the book to the list he had been staring at.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! Thank you for the favorites and follows! I know this might be greedy of me but a review or two would be great also*hint, hint*. But seriously thanks. Just FYI, I probably won't be updating this fast, the only reason I am is because I already had Chapter 2 made. But I haven't done chapter 3 yet so... Also how do you but the line in the story, thanks.**

Chapter 2

"How do you think shorty did it, Juvia," Gajeel asked his second in command at the crimescene. They had taken to the name 'shorty' as a nickname for the thief because of a robbery pulled that could only happen if the person was abnormally short.

"Juvia thinks that shorty might have come in by the window next to the clock over there," she points to the window, "and then walk across the hallway, steal the book, then leave the same way she came in."

Gajeel couldn't help but think that Shorty was offly confident to just march in there steal the book then march straight back out. But then again she had succeeded to stealing the book so…

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF

The bar was once again crowded, loud, and stuffy, but then it always was like this. Gajeel would've thought that the world would have to end for it to be quiet in here. As he walked toward the stool he always sat at he saw a flash of pink out of the corner of his eye, so when he reached the bar he turned around slowly and rested his arm against the counter. He watched the crowd and looked for the pink to show up, and it did except this time with a flash of gold.

"What the…" since when did _he_ have a girlfriend.

He being the densest, dumbest, person Gajeel had ever met, so how in Zeref did he have a girlfriend and a pretty one at that. She had blond hair, a big chest, and she was actually enjoying herself, at least it seemed like it. Little did Gajeel know that they were joking about how they were going steal from him and that Natsu was talking about how he wouldn't even notice, he was so thickheaded. They knew each other so well because Natsu had been caught 3 times already in the short time Gajeel had been Commander.

"Excuse me, sir, are you going get something to drink?" the bartender asked.

"Yeah I am" Gajeel responded sort of mad at the bartender for interrupting his train of thought, "I'll take some whiskey."

They weren't supposed to drink on a weeknight, but in his defense, he had a rough week so far so surely a little wouldn't be a that bad. _Wait, Natsu was a pickpocket thief so he might know who shorty might be..._ it was worth a try at least.

"Here is your whiskey, sir"

 _Perfect timing, too,_ Gajeel thought, completely forgetting about his grudge against the bartender, as he drank the whole glass in one gulp and walked over to the table they were at.

"Hey" he said gruffly.

"What are you doing here, metalhead" Natsu replied with a smile.

"What did you just say, thief"

"Who are you calling a thief, guard"

"Who else would I say it to, flamehead"

"What was that, metalguard"

"Excuse me, but who is this, Natsu" Lucy interrupted their very pitiful fight with a voice of annoyance. Both guys couldn't help but gulp in fear in the way the she had just said that and the way she was narrowing her eyes at them.

"Ummm, this is Gajeel, Luce. Gajeel meet Lucy" Natsu said nervously as he eyed her carefully.

"As in the new guard commander gajeel or as in a random person named Gajeel?" Lucy asked skeptically.

"As in the new guard commander Gajeel" Gajeel replied warily for Natsu.

"Now as I came here to say, you guys wouldn't know the thief I'm trying to catch would you?"

Natsu and Lucy shared a glance that made Gajeel think they definitely knew the person who was the thief. _Now, how to get them to talk…_ As they shared the glance, Lucy caught sight of someone and quickly raised her hand to her neck and made a slicing motion across her neck. While she this, her face changed to a look of caution, and don't come here, Natsu saw her face change and looked behind him while he did so his face changed to panic, too. During this whole fiasco, Gajeel was watching Lucy and Natsu with piercing eyes trying to figure out what was going on and get the most information he could. When he saw Natsu turn around, Gajeel looked in the same direction, but all he saw a flash of bright blue.

"Who was that?" Gajeel asked them still looking at the spot where the flash of blue had been but when he turned back to face them, Lucy and Natsu were gone. _Great, just freaking fantastic,_ Gajeel thought sarcastically. He went back to the bar and payed the bill after that he left the busy bar. He hadn't tried to find the thieves, he had learned from experience that if they didn't want to be found, they couldn't be found.

FTFTFTFTFTFFTFTFTFTFTF

The next day went by like a flash, since there weren't any thefts. But the day after that on the other hand wasn't. Gajeel woke up with a headache but since he was the commander now he couldn't skip work like he used too. So with a pounding headache he got dressed, ate a piece of bread, said goodbye to his cat, Pantherlily, and left for work. He had been halfway to the city guard station when he realized that he had left the file about shorty at home, so he stopped abruptly and turned around. As he did a small person with blue hair up to her shoulders bumped into him, but he payed no mind to her, he just kept walking back to his house.

When he had finally arrived at the station, he had been cursing, but he still walked in and apologized to his second in command, Juvia. He had been sitting at his desk for a couple hours signing papers, and he was reaching the limit of boredom he could handle. So he jumped up from excitement-not that he would tell anyone-when Juvia ran into his office. Little did he know then that he soon would wish that she had never come rushing in his office.

" Gajeel, there's been another robbery! I think shorty did it but there is no proof."

"Ok, comin'," Gajeel said roughly, almost sighing in relief, but he didn't because he didn't do sissy things like that.

"What is this," Gajeel demanded in outrage at the medical people at the crime scene. Most people at the sound of his voice cringed and slowly hid behind something, not wanting Gajeel shouting at them. Finally, Wendy, the chief of the medical people-as Gajeel called them-, stepped up.

"There is a dead body inside the house and that is our jurisdiction, Gajeel" Wendy said in a patient voice as she was used to Gajeel screaming at people when he was mad. And he was mad quite often, so she had plenty of experience.

"What are you talking about kid, it was a robbery not a murder" Gajeel said confused but calmed a bit more. After all Wendy was everybody's weak spot, she was just so cute with her long blue hair in pigtails and always smiling.

"You can check, Gajeel" Wendy said making a sweeping motion with her arm signaling him to come in the house. And Gajeel did.

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	3. Chapter 3

**So I felt really motivated from getting a follower who favorited it too. But I need to get a review or else I might stop, it doesn't all have to be good things it could be constructive criticism. Anyway hope you enjoy and please review**

Chapter 3

Levy sighed in content as she sank into her velvet recliner/chair with the book she had just stolen. Whoever said that thieving was wrong was probably right but it did have it's perks, like being able to read a book that probably wouldn't have been read at the place it had been sitting at. So Levy did it a favor, at least that was Levy's point of view on it, however someone might have a different point of view on it.

After following the new guard commander and bumping into him, not to pickpocket him, but to know what his schedule was and what he suspected her of stealing. She didn't leave a message, like some thieves, she thought that was asking to get caught. Anyway she was only following him, but all of a sudden he stopped in mid walk and turns around knocking right into her. Although he was too occupied by forgetting something or another, he didn't notice her saying sorry, that didn't mean next time she was going to slip up. She couldn't help but think that she was losing her touch, this was the second time in a span of a week.

Levy stayed reading in her cozy, quaint room one floor up to the bookstore that Porlyusica owned for several hours until she looked up from her and saw outside the window that it was almost nighttime. It was actually quite beautiful with the orange outlining the horizon and the pink clouds sticking out against the blue of the sky. Porlyusica was one of the few people who would offer shelter to thieves like Levy, admittedly most people would reject her offer after spending a week with her. She was often angry and was easily irritated by people, always talking about how she was too nice and should just boot them out. However, Levy knew that she wouldn't do that, so she had stayed, after all Levy had a chance to live in a building that had a bookstore, how could she refuse.

Mira and Lucy were right as much as she hated to admit it, she would have to be extra careful at her next heist which would be happening in three days. She would have pushed it back, but then she wouldn't have the chance after that to steal it. And there weren't many ways it could go wrong and most of them the guards had to know what she was going steal, which they didn't. Even Lu-chan didn't know what she was going to steal until after it happened. She could only steal it in three days because afterwards it wouldn't be at the mansion it was being held at. There was going to be a ball at the house because it was the nobleman's wife birthday that day and they were hosting a ball to celebrate. She would have to impersonate a noble which shouldn't be too hard, she had done it before, and lucky for her it was a masquerade ball. So she wouldn't have to show her face to anyone, and she already had a mask ready for the ball.

She yawned. _Should i read until i finish it or go to sleep now...eh. I'll read until next chapter and then go to sleep._ Levy nodded and then went back to reading, she completely forgot about her compromise and finished her book at midnight, at which she jerked her head up.

"I completely forgot about reading until I reached the next chapter, and I have to meet Lucy at noon to give this to her!"

She put her head in her hands and wondered how she was going to wake in time to give the book to Lucy. She didn't want to face Lucy while she was angry because then it was looking at a demon in disguise, like Mira. Levy couldn't help but wonder if Lucy had learned from Mira, because if so, then it would explain a lot. She would have to ask Erza tomorrow and see how she was doing.

FTTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF

Levy woke up and immediately looked out the window to see if it was daytime yet. It was late morning but not noon yet. She wouldn't be late if she hurried, so she got dressed in her typical outfit and put her orange hairband on. She then grabbed the book that was still on the velvet chair and walked out of the room to meet Lucy.

As she walked into fairy tail, she immediately heard-"LEVY" and then was promptly choked by her two best friends, Jet and Droy.

"C-Choking!"

They let her go and held her at arm's length

" We heard you did a job and you didn't tell us, WHY?" Jet and Droy shout at the same time sobbing about her not telling them about the 'job' she did.

" I didn't tell you guys because then you would have a mini panic attack" Levy responded bluntly.

At this they walk away depressed and crushed. Levy sighed, she didn't want to deal with them but didn't want to hurt their feelings. She walked to the table she always sits in and waits for Lucy to show up. She didn't have to wait long because Lucy showed up screaming with Natsu pouting.

"No! You do not eat all of someone's food because you were hungry!" Lucy shouted in outrage.

"What, did you want me to starve, Luce!

"Yes I did"

"How can you say that"

"How can you eat a whole fridge"

It went on for while till Lucy finally gave up and screamed in frustration. Levy was smiling so hard by the end of it because of the way they squabbled was like five year olds fighting over who ate the cake. But when Lucy glared at Levy she quickly erased her smile but it wasn't fast enough.

"You too, levy"

"Sorry" Levy apologized, "but here's the last of the Harry Potter series, I cried at the end because it was a good series coming to an end." **(Me)**

"Thanks," Lucy said gratefully,

"But Levy you're getting accused of murder" Her face serious.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Hey so I forgot to do the disclaimer for the other chapters so I'm going to do it from now on. Also I would like to thank** alexandriathecat **for being my first reviewer, and follower while we're at it. Also thank you to my new follower, you know who you are *wink, wink*. The length of the chapters will mostly be around 1K, just FYI, sorry if you like them longer.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, unfortunately, but I do own this story.**

 **Chapter 4**

"How is this possible?" Gajeel asked as he stared at a dead body of a man whose throat had been slit by either a knife or a sword.

"Juvia does not know," Juvia replied to his rhetorical question making him get even more irritated than he already was.

"I know that rain woman" he said through gritted teeth.

"Juvia is sorr-"

"Wait, what is that?" Gajeel interrupted pointing at a small piece of paper that was caught in the between the window sill. He went over a took it, read whatever was on there, and then grinned a grin that showed his longer than usual teeth **(wasn't sure how to spell the right word)**. Juvia shivered.

"Look here, Juvia" Gajeel said lifting up the piece of paper, "it seems our thief turned murderer has left us an invitation to go to a certain ball."

Juvia walked over there to read the invitation when she did she frowned and said, "You're going to have to go there under cover, you know, right?"

"Why can't you, rain women?"

"Juvia would like too but Juvia is not fluent in the art of talking to nobles"

"I can see that now" Gajeel said with a bitter sound, "who else can go?"

"Nobody except you"

"shaddup"

"Juvia thinks it's true though" She replied confused on how she was wrong.

"Just shut up, rain woman!" He yelled, "I'm not going to same stupid ball with fancy nobles that are just a bunch of idiots!"

"Juvia wonders why? Is she wrong?"

"No your not wrong, I just don't want to go, get it through your head!" He shouted while running his hand through his spiky, black hair.

"You don't want to catch a thief?"

"Murderer now, and I do."

"Then Juvia thinks you should go undercover to catch a thief"

"Fine but keep this between us" Gajeel sighed, since when had rain women been able to influence his decision like this?

She nodded in agreement, but when his back was turned looking at the invitation again, she smiled almost as creepy as Mira.

"Hey Juvia, am I the only one who thinks it wasn't Shorty" Gajeel questioned. For some odd reason his gut was telling him that it wasn't shorty, but there was no proof that supported it. All the evidence pointed towards shorty, a book was stolen, no card or message, and the fact that it was flawless. It all pointed towards the thief-murderer now- but he couldn't get rid of the feeling.

"No, Juvia thinks that shorty was framed, too," she responded in a whisper and looking around as if she was going to be killed or something. Gajeel scoffed at the ridiculousness of it, they were guards, damn it. They were not killed at a flick of a switch.

But Gajeel was glad that he was not the only one who thought that shorty didn't do it, it wouldn't make sense. Then again if he was told three weeks ago that he would be going to a ball to catch a thief that stole books, he wouldn't have thought it made sense either. Not that it made sense now but probably more than it would have back then.

"Alright"

The wait was almost too much for Gajeel. It had only been a day since finding the dead body and he was already dreading it. He hoped he didn't meet his father who was a pretty powerful noble, if he did he didn't know what he was going to say. The last time Gajeel saw him it was when he broke the news that he was going to be a guard instead of some fancy noble, let's just say disappointment was an understatement.

While he told himself, he was only looking over the crime scene of the dead body and robberies done by shorty because he wanted to make sure they had the right person, not because of some gut feeling both he Juvia had. Certainly not because he wanted to find out who the killer or thief was before the ball, that way he wouldn't have to go. If he went he would have to wear an old suit of his, and Gajeel wasn't sure he could fit in them, he had after all gotten some muscle after being a guard for three years. And training every morning with his iron sword that he cleaned daily had certainly helped the process of getting more muscular.

He was also going to have to get a mask for the ball, it was a masquerade ball. He decided that he was going to get a dragon mask because he felt like it was symbolic for some reason. Also because he liked dragons, because they were strong and invincible, unlike human beings.

Gajeel wondered if he would meet the thief in disguise at the ball, or if shorty would steal while they were distracted with the ball and sneak in. He wasn't sure which one he prefered, because if shorty went in disguise they would probably not be able to catch shorty. But it would probably be the same result with the latter anyway. Sometime while he was thinking his mind had shifted and decided until he knew for certain who the killer was, Gajeel didn't want the thief to get caught because he knew if shorty got caught they would execute him or her almost immediately, and he wouldn't get the chance to find out if shorty had killed the man.

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	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry about the weirdness of this chapter before, if you saw it you know what am talking about, if not then I'm glad you didn't see that. Anyway this chapter is longer than the other ones because they kept getting shorter and shorter so I wanted to stop the trend before it became a habit.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

 **Chapter 5**

Levy went to go talk to Erza, a retired mercenary who had been a slave when she was younger. Erza was in charge of a bar that many Fairy Tail thieves went there to get jobs when they couldn't find a job, and she was able to scare people witless who tried to interfere with her business. Her bar had become the most popular in the town even the guards came here sometimes, apparently the commander came to the bar often in the weekend. Though he still came during the week, he had almost caught sight of her when she had come to talk to Lucy and Natsu but they had managed to warn her, making sure she wasn't seen, and then disappeared themselves.

Erza was talking to Jellal, a customer who came here often, it was obvious to anybody but them that they both liked each other. The proof was right there, Jellal had bought some strawberry cake for her even though he didn't have the money to spare to spend on an expensive pastry. Levy had heard some rumors about them knowing each other when Erza was a slave but had never asked Erza about it. She had a past she didn't want to share and Levy understood that so she didn't pry, even if she was curious.

"Thanks Jellal, you know you didn't have too" Erza was saying as Levy approached them. Levy could see her cheeks were flushed with color as she thanked him.

"You're always doing stuff for me so…" he trailed off scratching the back his neck with a blush on his face.

In the end, they were both standing there awkward and blushing till their faces were bright red, Levy assumed this was a good moment to interrupt them. Even if they were really cute like that.

"Erza, I need a favor" Levy asked snapping Erza out of daze.

"What kind of favor" she asked in return, while Jellal stands up and waves good-bye to Erza and leaves the bar. **(Sorry if that's weird, I didn't know how to fix it)**

"A simple one" Levy promises.

"Ok what is it"

"I want you to make me a mask shaped like a black cat"

She nodded, "I can do that."

"Thank you, I'll give you one-third of the profit"

"Whatever you're doing, be careful"

Too many people were telling her that these days, _what's next, Cana telling me that too, saying that the cards are giving bad vibes._ Levy laughed nervously at that, Cana's predictions were either spot on or way off, there was no middle ground with her. So if she did actually say that Levy would have to hope that it was a way off the mark one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~One day Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Levy was looking at the plans of the mansion she was going to steal from making sure she had all the exits and entrances memorized, once she was sure she had it she left her cozy home and went downstairs to meet Porlyusica.

"Hello child" she said bitterly.

"Hello," Levy replied respectfully, "I will be gone for a day this week so please do not be alarmed." She was about to continue but before she could Porlyusica interrupted.

"Don't worry child, I can figure it out myself,"she said narrowing her eyes and nodding, "Well go on and do whatever you are going to do, child."

"Thank you" Levy said her voice full of gratitude.

"Don't thank me." When Levy turned around her face softened and Porlyusica found herself sending a prayer to protect Levy because something was happening and the child was in the middle of it.

Levy then left the bookstore and went in search of she found her, she was at Fairy Tail bullying Natsu and Gray about fighting each other. Gray had somehow lost his clothes in the short amount of time of Levy being in the building, and now Erza was lecturing about how to keep clothes on while hitting Natsu if he snickered at them. Lucy was watching the whole exchange with sweatdrops appearing and when Natsu cried out Lucy's name for help, she turned around and started talking to Mira. Natsu was still in shock of Lucy's betrayal when Levy walked up to Erza who was still lecturing Gray about clothes.

"Erza," Levy said as she was giggling

"Levy, I didn't see you there,"she said as she was choking Natsu and Gray.

"Were you able to do it or should I come tomorrow," Levy asked.

"I finished it,"she said and then released Natsu and Gray, who both fell to the ground gasping for breath, "Here follow me" she added as she turned away and started walking.

Levy followed Erza while thinking about getting accused of murder. It troubled her that she had gotten accused of killing someone and the fact that it happened where she had stolen the book. She wondered if it was just a coincidence or if someone had figured out where she had been going to steal from and framed her. It was probably a coincidence but just in case she thought of her enemies, _there's the guy that owned the Quartet about Alanna, but he doesn't know me and i doubt he would be able to kill anyone…_ It went on for a while, she would think of a person she had stolen from but then crossed him or her out till she was finally left with no one.

Meanwhile Erza had been trying to get Levy's attention for a while now, "Levy, books, ancient tome, Levy!" She had been listing things she knew Levy liked but none of them seemed to work so she finally went to just shouting her name really loud. It worked. Levy had jumped up then glanced around looking for the person that had called her name, when she saw Erza her face relaxed with recognition. "Erza,"she sighed in relief.

"Here," Erza said as she gave Levy the mask she had asked for yesterday.

"Thank you," Levy said gratefully. She then took a deep breath and thought about the ball that was going to be tomorrow.

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	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you to** OziGirl16 **for reviewing! Also sorry for updating late-ish, I will try and come up with a schedule for updating but I'm just writing and updating as I go. Also how do you do the line for separating the paragraghs when there's a time skip or something? Thanks!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. (I finally remembered to do it)**

 _ **Chapter 6**_

Gajeel woke up from a disturbing dream feeling as though he was missing something. In the dream, he had been chasing someone and it had been like he had to find that person because something bad was going to happen to them if he didn't catch that person first. First because Gajeel had felt that someone else was chasing after that person, too. And whenever he felt like giving up, he saw a flash of blue and it was like he couldn't run fast enough, he just felt desperate to reach whoever it was first. Just as he caught up to the person, he woke in his own hot, sweat.

He sighed. The way life was going for him so far he would have to have at least three Pantherlilys to make him relax. As it was, Gajeel was petting Pantherlily behind the ears and Pantherlily's purring calmed his heartbeat that had been beating as if he had just run a marathon. He looked outside to check the time and saw that it was before dawn so he didn't have to rush to go to work. As he thought that, he yawned and closed his eyes again. He fell back asleep within minutes of closing his eyes and this time without a weird dream.

"Da-", The rest of the word was cut off as he covered his pierced face with his pillow. He groaned loudly. "I don wat to go to wok!" He shouted his face still covered by the pillow blocking the sun. With the commotion happening Pantherlily jumped off Gajeel's bed taking his body with him and slipping out of the room while Gajeel was still whining about who know's what. Gajeel finally lifted the pillow and squinted against the blinding Sun all while pouting. He looked to see Pantherlily's imprint on the bed but not the actual cat. He huffed, nothing was turning out in his favor today. He had slept in because of that stupid dream, Juvia was going to scream at him(again), and he was going to have to go to the Masquerade Ball too. He groaned once again in annoyance.

Gajeel got of of bed and went to the bathroom where he brushed his teeth, ran his hand through his hair while looking at the mirror, and went pee. Once he finished with that he went in his tiny kitchen that would have been horrible had anyone else stayed at his house, other than Lily. There he ate his breakfast in silence except for the crunch of the burnt toast he had made and the sound of lily drinking his milk.

He had been right about Juvia screaming at him for being late, he had gotten an earful but he had toned her out after her first insult. It had been acquired after a month with her, of course he never told her that, he just nodded and pretended to listen to her lecture about being late. After that he went to his office for some peace and quiet that he never got because it seemed as if thieves had decided to all steal something during the night, which was quite unfortunate for Gajeel who felt as if he was about to explode. Those who knew Gajeel better stayed away from him, those who didn't know better swarmed Gajeel asking what to do about the heists. It went on like this for a while until they finally got the hint and stayed away from him.

To say he was uncomfortable was an understatement, Gajeel was in a nice suit that was two sizes too small for him and he was crowded all around by pesky nobles. He couldn't even walk a step before bumping into someone, to say he was aggravated was also an understatement. He finally got a chance to move when he spotted a waitress going around with glasses of wine.

"Excuse me," He said and the people parted seeing that he was going to get a glass of water, some even went with him. He was in such a rush to escape he bumped into a small woman that had a cat mask on.

"Sorry." He hoped the lady would let him go with accept his sorry and not go on a rant about how rude it was to bump into someone. To his shock she didn't even look at him or say anything, it was hard to tell what she was thinking because her mask made it hard to read her facial expression. Though it would still be hard because nobles have a habit to wear so much makeup that it was to tell what their facial expressions were too.

Some of the nobles had finally lost interest in him but one lady kept badgering him about something or another, he hadn't been listening. He reached the waitress and drank his glass in two glups to the shock of the women, but still she clung to him. He scanned the ball for a way to escape when his eyes connected with the petite woman he had bumped into earlier. He smiled in his creepy way and slowly started to walk in the direction of the woman, while the one who was clinging to him followed him and didn't stop talking about the wealth her family had. He finally reached the small lady who had her back turned toward him.

"I'm sorry, madam, but this young lady had asked to dance with me earlier and I said yes, so pardon me"

The girl had turned around startled when Gajeel had started talking but quickly caught on to his scheme and ,surprising him, backed him up.

"Oh, here I was thinking you had left me for the wolves."

"Of-Of course not, madam."

Gajeel then offered his hand and she took it without hesitating, instead acting so confident, Gajeel would have thought his own lie was real, had he not been participating in it.

"So tell me do you usually do along with someone's lie without even thinking?" Gajeel asked curious.

"Of course not," She scoffed.

"Then why mine?"

"Because you seemed pretty desperate to escape that woman, ."

"So that was her name."

"Yes."

"What's your's?"

"What's your's?"

"Mysterious act, Gajeel."

"Rowan, and I am not putting up the mysterious act."

"Oh really, fine then."

They danced in silence for a few more minutes before she excused herself saying that she shouldn't stay with a stranger any longer.

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	7. Chapter 7

**Hey! Here's another chapter of Thieves and Guards, hope you enjoy it! Tell me if parts are confusing or if you really like some parts. Also do you guys(and women) want a bad guy from Fairy Tail or a made up one? How do you make the bar/line to separate paragraphs? Thanks!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

 ** _Chapter 7_**

Levy hadn't wanted to leave the guy for some reason and even as she marched up the stairs of the mansion, her thought were brought back to him, it annoyed her to say at the very least. She was in the middle of a risky heist and she was thinking of a guy she had danced with for about five minutes, and talked to for about one minute. What was wrong with her? And here she was yet again thinking about him even if it was to stop thinking about him. _Argh._ _Why was it at inconvenient time like now why not later?_

She had to pretend she was sick to a guard which wasn't very hard considering she had a mask on, but she had also been distracted by thinking of the guy, Gajeel. So that had made it harder but not by much. After he had tried flirting with her (and obviously failing), he pointed her the direction of the bathrooms which were in the same part of the house as the book she needed. The guard had some wine in his hands, and by the slur he had when he talked, he was drunk. So luck worked for her on this part of this job, now whether it would continue to work for her, she couldn't say.

Gajeel somehow made it back into her mind and thoughts when she wondered who he was. She had gone to several other events (to keep her cover) and he had never been there, and so many nobles had gone to meet him too. They only did that when there was someone of very high class, higher than them, but he hadn't seemed like one. He hadn't wanted to stay with the nobles and had even lied to make Mrs. Evangeline go away. Most of the higher class nobles she had met had flaunted their wealth, he hadn't even talked about wealth. Nobles would stay in the middle of attention for as long as they had it and try and keep it that way, he had tried to escape the nobles, not be at the center of attention.

Levy almost screamed in frustration but she caught herself in time. This was why she shouldn't be thinking of him, he distracted her from her job. Which reminded her, if she was right she had to take a left here to reach the book which was in a cabinet that was secured with a simple lock. Even though the guards sent out warnings, most nobles ignored them and never took the necessary precautions against thieves like her. Which was great for her, not so great for the nobles but that wasn't her problem was it? _No, it wasn't_ , she thought to herself, with a smirk on her face.

She took the left she had to take and then saw a door to her right. She smiled and put on her gloves that looked pristine and new even though they weren't. As she started at them her smile turned from victorious to fond as she remembered her first few robberies with them on. She remembered the adrenaline that had rushed through her veins as she had held the book in her hands, the adrenaline that was now like second nature to her. She made sure that her gloves were on right, snug and secure.

She heard the click of the door before she saw the person open the door. Levy's instincts quickly came over her, as she mentally froze in her brain, and hid her behind a small table that had a mirror above it. It was probably there that way nobles could come over, put their makeup on the small table, and have the mirror to make sure that it hadn't smudged over the time they had been to the ball or party. Because the hallway was dark from the lack of light, she couldn't tell the gender or any recognizing features. She also didn't notice the blood on the person's hand or the way they were smiling, if she had she would've peed in her dress. But she didn't, all she felt was her heart beating two times faster than normal and her hands that were sweating underneath the gloves.

The person left without noticing her crouching underneath a table, or at least she told herself that the person didn't notice her because they hadn't run to get a guard. Once it had been five minutes, and she had calmed down, she stood up and stretched. Levy then walked up to the unlocked door and walked in, it was darker in here then it was in the hallway but her eyes adjusted quickly to where she could see the cabinet that had the lock on it. She walked up to it and then bent down to examine the lock, once she knew what lock pick to use, Levy reached underneath her skirts and clutched her set of lockpicks. She selected the one that she needed and took the lock with her left hand to hold it steady. Then with her right hand that held the lock pick she needed, Levy carefully inserted the lock pick in the crack of where a key was supposed to go. She then wiggled the pick until she heard a small click. _Yes!_ She shouted in her mind. She pulled on the lock and it opened.

Levy grabbed the book, _Rules for stealing stars_ , and then slowly closed the cabinet. She made sure that the lock was closed before she left that way she would have more time to escape before they figured that someone had stolen it. She scanned the room quickly to make sure nothing was out of place and then feeling satisfied, closed the door with a small click that could barely be heard over her heartbeat that was beating louder by the minute of the fear of getting caught. Even though she had hid the book underneath her skirts with her lockpick set, Levy felt as though anyone could see it.

She walked calmly down the hallway turning right because her perspective had changed and saw the drunk guard who was leaning against the wall before he saw her. She remembered in time that she had said she was feeling faint so she was wanting to go to the restroom, so she made sure she had less of a bounce to her steps to make her seem as if she was still feeling sick. When the guard saw Levy and turned around fully to face her no longer leaning against the wall, however with this small amount of movement Levy could tell that he was drunker than the last time she saw him. His poise was no longer slightly slouched but fully slouched and he slowly raised his hand as if to wave at her but halfway through the movement he stumbled and tried to clutch the wall for support. Tried because he misjudged the distance and ended up falling to the ground laughing in embarrassment and confusion.

Levy walked around him radiating disapproval at the poor guard who was still on the ground. She walked down the stairs and glanced at the people unconsciously looking for Gajeel. When she spotted him he was alone sipping at a glass of wine, she couldn't help but allow a small smile to appear on her face as she watched him. It looked as though he was sulking for something and was scowling so hard nobles were avoiding like the plague, which made Levy wonder if he was purposely scowling. But she didn't know him enough to tell the difference. She started walking towards him to ask him, the weight of the book she had just stolen forgotten.

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	8. Chapter 8

**Hey so I'm going to go on a rant...**

 **I have gotten over 700 views and yet only 4 people have reviewed, actually only 2 because it was the same person who reviewed twice. All you have to do is type like 6 words at most and click post review, and yet so many people aren't doing that. It makes me feel as though no one is liking my story. Also this is not directed towards the two people who have reviewed.**

 **Also this chapter is smaller but there's more dialogue than usual. Tell me if it's good or bad.**

 **Thank you to** _hananodoku_ ** _for following._**

 _alexandriatheca-_ _I will try to do that but i can't think of a lot of villains that would fit my story. If you have any ideas let me know, please. Thank you for reviewing._

 _Chapter 8_

After 'Rowan' had left him, he had watched her movement. He had felt as though she was hiding something and not just her actual name. He knew when someone was lying, he was a guard after all, and one of the first things that had tip him off was that she hadn't answered his questions. Instead she had deflected them by asking what his name was and the way she had said 'I'm not putting up the mysterious act' had almost been pleading-like. So he watched her go up the stairs and talked to the guard before being let through.

The thought that maybe she was the thief had crossed his mind at some point and time but he had immediately dismissed it after he had finally approached a couple nobles and asked a couple questions about her. Apparently she had started to come to things like a couple years ago and was the granddaughter of the Elder of Script. Her grandmother had sent her here to become more social and collected that way she could inherit her birthright and be accepted by the people. Gajeel had been surprised that there still were Elders, many had died or faded over time since people no longer truly had a need for them. Which was sad because most of them had sacrificed so much so they could help lead their families and friends, that was why they had been called Elders. ( **More** **info later)**

He was in thought sulking about how other than that he gotten absolutely nothing about her, not that he was stalker, he was just curious. That's what he said to reassure himself but he was definitely being a stalker about a person he barely knew. This made Gajeel sulk even more so he took another sip of wine.

"I didn't take you as one to sulk, you know."

Gajeel raised an eyebrow, "I ain't sulking, shrimp."

"Shimp?!" She shouted clearly offended.

"You know, because you're short." He said while scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment of letting the word slip. He had a bad habit of giving people crude nicknames.

"Thanks, sulker" she said sarcastically. **(Idk if that's actually a word)**

"Sulker?!" This time it was Gajeel who shouted.

"Yeah, because you sulk." She said clearly throwing his words back in his face.

Gajeel was completely thrown back, she was definitely was not your ordinary noble.

"Gihi,"

"What?" She said now confused.

"You are definitely weird, shrimp."

"What! I'm weird, and you're not?"

"Never said that, shrimp." His rough voice full of amusement.

"Good, because if you had it'd be a lie." Her voice had filled with amusement too somewhere along the way.

"Gihi," she was feisty and blunt. No wonder her grandmother had sent her here, she needed to learn manners.

"That's such a weird laugh."

"Well, yours sure ain't better than mine."

"You haven't even heard mine, Gajeel."

The way she said his name made Gajeel heart beat a little faster, why? He didn't know, and it annoyed him, so he of course scowled.

"I don't need to hear it to know, shrimp."

'Rowan' laughed, "your way too confident, and I think mine is better, wouldn't you say?"

"Don't get your hopes up." Gajeel said as he noticed that the guards were switching shifts. "I have to go check on something."

He needed to find out who had gone down the hallway that had the book locked in the cabinet so he walked up the stairs that 'Rowan' had just walked down about an hour ago. When he reached the guard that was about to go, he saw that he wasn't going to get much information, considering that he could barely walk straight. Who had given them access to the wine, the waitress shouldn't have come here and they were the ones passing out the wine. But that wasn't the problem at hand, Gajeel reminded himself as he saw the guard turn towards the wall for support.

"What is going on,"Gajeel said with authority.

"This one had too much to drink, sir." The guard who was taking over shift of the drunk one said.

"Tell me something I don't know," Gajeel said irritated.

"I'm afraid we will have to get the information form him tomorrow, sir."

"Send him to my office in the afternoon tomorrow."

"Of course, sir."

Gajeel turned away from the guard and past the still staggering guard. His eyes danced from person to person searching for 'Rowan', but couldn't find her small body or cat mask. _Did she leave already,_ Gajeel wondered.

"Sir, have you heard that I'm considered to be the most beautiful girl of this generation." The woman who had bothered him at the beginning of the ball said noticing that he was alone once again.

 _What was her name, what did 'Rowan' say her name was?_ His mind searched for the name frantically though he didn't need to worry because she was off rambling about who knows what yet again. Gajeel finally found the name he was searching for.

"Mrs. Evangeline, pardon me, but I'm afraid I must be on my way now." It was a pitiful excuse and he knew it but he hadn't thought that he would need an excuse ahead of time.

So Gajeel left her there stunned that someone had once again brushed her off. _Why you little…_ She thought to herself while starting at the retreating back. She would get her revenge soon, she knew that was for certain, all she had to do was wait.

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	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you so much for all those reviews and sorry about the rant! Here is the next chapter and every book I mention is real and they're all good to me so you might like them. Also I still don't know when I will update but know that I will update at least 2 a week.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Finnikin of the Rock.**

 **Thank you to** hananodoku, guest, tigerladygamer, theunkownjoe, elliemystic **for reviewing.**

 **Thank you to** elliemystic, tigerladygamer **for favoriting.**

 **Thank you to** tigerladygamer, yellow331akb3 **for** **following.**

 ** _Chapter 9_**

Levy couldn't believe she hadn't made the connection sooner, _just how dumb can I be?_ She thought as she ran from the ball with the book she had just stolen and tears welling in her eyelids at the frustration she felt.

~~~~~~ Flashback~~~~~~~

"I have to go check on something."

She had nodded but he hadn't seen because he had already turned around walking towards the stairs. So she watched him to find out who he was with her brown eyes narrowed making sure she didn't miss a single detail, as she watched him, she realized that he was tall, really tall and that she must seem tiny to him-not that she admit it.

It was also because she was watching that she saw him go up the guards and saw the guards treat with him respect. And it was also because she was watching so closely, that she could tell what he said.

"Send him to my office in the afternoon tomorrow."

So it was all because she was watching that she figured out he was, he was Gajeel the new guard commander who wanted to catch her and who had accused her of a murder she hadn't done.

~~~~~~~~~End of Flashback~~~~~~~~

"Argh!" She screamed into the night attracting several weird looks but she didn't see them.

Why was she sometimes so dumb? How had she not seen it? Lucy could have seen, so why hadn't she? Why had she enjoyed talking with him so much? There were so many questions that she couldn't answer running through her head so she ran faster down the cobblestone road as if she could run fast enough for everything to disappear. A lot of people turned their heads to see who would be running at this time of day. She couldn't see much because of her cat mask and the tears that had started streaming down her face, so when she tripped she wasn't all that surprised.

Instead, she picked herself up and took a deep shaky breath before she started walking calmly as though nothing had happened. The people staring stopped and lost interest after a few more steps with her calm demeanor. She had to act normal that way she wouldn't stand out, that way no one would remember her, that way she would just be like an everyday person. _But that wouldn't matter would it, after all you talked to the commander himself, and he will remember you because you decided that you would do a dumb thing,_ the voice in her head said.

She winced, not that anyone could tell because she shaking from the run and the revelation, and most people thought she had been shaking from the cold the night had brought with its arrival. She took a couple other breaths to calm her mind because while she may have calmed her body, she hadn't calmed her mind.

 _Calm down._ She thought, _when you get to Porlyuisca's you are going to think answer the question right down the answers and then go to bed satisfied._ It always helped Levy to think of what would happen and how she was going deal with whatever happened. And it helped, it always helped but now that she wasn't distracted she finally felt the cold and the sting of the scratch she had gotten when she had tripped. Whatever luck she had during the ball, had left her because it was especially windy tonight and the dress she had on wasn't very warm. It was like there was a bunch of holes and the wind went just through them to her.

She made it to Porlyuisca's and went inside her fingers touching the binds of books and stopping only when she came across a couple of the best books she had read. Like _Graceling_ , _Mysterious Benedict Society, Six of Crows, The magic thief, The False Prince,_ and _The Sorcerer's stone,_ those were only some of the best books she had read. She debated of whether she should bring a couple upstairs that way she could read until she fell asleep and finally decided that since she had a bad day-or week more like it-she was going to take a couple.

She went up the stairs with seven books, they were _Finnikin of the rock_ , _Throne of Glass, The Poe estate, Outcast, Thief's Convenant,_ and _Protector of the small._ Once she got to her cozy room, she made a list of all the questions she had and answered them logically, and for some of them that meant putting that she had gotten arrogant and careless. As someone had told her, flaws make people but people can decide whether they are good or bad flaws **(I made that up, is it good?)**. And she had gotten a couple bad ones, but no one is perfect.

She then read her books and re-read her favorite parts and skipped the parts she hated but knew they were necessary to the book. She got hot because of some the fight scenes had gotten her energized and so she opened her window and stood next to it for a minute or so. The cold wing felt nice against her small, hot, sweaty body and her blue hair swayed and brushed her face.

When she finally fell asleep, she was re-reading _Finnikin of the rock_ and was at the part where…

~~~Snippet of Finnikin of the rock~~~

 _They both looked over to where Evanjalin stood, her nose pressed against the horse. Finnikin leaned forward to whisper._

 _"_ _All that silence. It's not right."_

 _"_ _That would be the vow, Finnikin. The novices take it very seriously."_

 _"_ _I saw the novices of Lagrami often as a child. My cousin was one of them. They sang, they weaved, they planted roses. They did not fight like a feral in the King's Guard. They did not know the amount of damage the handle of a sword swung between a man's legs could do._

~~End~~

Levy had forgotten about the open window and so when there was a particularly big gust of wind, she would shiver but never did she wake up. At one gale, the piece of paper she had been wrote on fell to ground and turned around on its way there. And you could see that all the questions had been answered accept one instead it had two question marks.

 _Why did I enjoy talking to him- ?_

 **elliemystic- Thank you and I will try to continue to make it great. I hope you continue to review.**

 **theunkownjoe- I try to make little things here and there to make the mystery show up more so I'm glad you like it.**

 **tigerladygamer- Thank you and I'm glad you like it :)**

 **hananodoku- Yeah the dialogue is always hard because each person has a different way of saying things, I'm happy you liked it, because I didn't think it was that good. I hope you review more often.**

 **Guest- Here's a chapter and thanks for reviewing!**

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 **P.S. if any of you guys have any ideas about who the villian should be, I'm all ears :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry it took me a while to update...part of it was I was redoing my prologue and the other part of it was plain laziness. Hope you like it!**

 **Thank you to** Irhina, Tinkadot, tastefultux, **and** Bluewater7 **for following.**

 ** _Chapter 10_**

Gajeel woke up with a slight headache because of the wine he had last night and he was not in the best of moods, in fact he was probably in the worst of moods.

After 'Rowan' had left him, chaos had appeared. He had gone to check the cabinet but had found a dead body with the same injuries as the first one, plus the book was stolen. So now the guards were being scorned by nobles saying that they weren't very well at their jobs. The dead body had been the guy who had set up the ball for his wife's birthday and they had to deal with a wimpy noble woman. All she had done was cry and Gajeel was at the end of his patience (he had almost screamed at her but Juvia pulled him away before he could) with her and that night in general.

The only suspects they had were…none, absolutely none. That's what made Gajeel so frustrated, he had never worked on a case so long and not have a suspect. Well they had a couple in the beginning but they were ruled out after a heist.

 _Well…there was the bluenett with the cat mask on, 'Rowan',_ Gajeel thought reluctantly, as he didn't believe that she would steal something or kill someone. Gajeel had mentioned her to a guard and said to look up where she lived, that way they could keep an eye on her.

Gajeel groaned.

He was at his office staring at the piles of paper stacked on his desk. _Damn it!_ Why had all the guards not come and give him this yesterday afternoon, then he remembered. _That's right, I had been so damn upset that all the dumb guards had stayed away from me._ And so they hadn't given him the papers he needed to fill out.

He needed coffee, yes that what was he needed. So he got up and walked towards the door with his mind made up. However once he got to the coffee stand a newbie guard came up to him, _Great._

"Sir, the girl you asked me to look up lives on the second floor of a bookstore north of here."

Gajeel thought about that and turned it around in his head, "Bring the owner of the bookstore here."

"Yes, sir."

He left to leave but before he walked away, "What's your name?"

This was going absolutely nowhere. This was a fact, make no mistake of that.

"How long has Rowan stayed with you?"

"Why must I answer, fool."

"You are talking to a commander."

"An incompetent fool, nonetheless.

"Just answer the questions, already." Gajeel growled trying to keep his cool.

"Tell me why."

"We will talk to you later." Gajeel said as he stood up from his chair. The room they were in had a couch and a chair. The pink haired lady sat in the couch her face set in a scowl that had been there ever since he had met her. The conversation had lasted about five minutes at most and yet Gajeel was already hating her.

"Hmph." She said as she left the room with Gajeel trailing behind her.

 _Grumpy old lady,_ Gajeel thought as he stared at the back of her neck and pink hair. He followed her to the main entrance of the guard compound and then was going to leave her at the door when her hand shot out and pulled him outside too. She had caught him surprised and she was stronger than she looked. She pulled him toward her.

"Listen carefully, fool, be at the cathedral at midnight exact and you shall have your wish."

She then let go of his arm and walked away from him at a brisk pace, he soon lost sight of her.

 _What was that about?_

It was almost 11:30 and he was getting ready to leave to go to the cathedral with Juvia. He hadn't told her and after a couple questions she had got the hint. He petted Pantherlily and left his apartment to join Juvia outside.

When they reached the cathedral it was at least 11:45 and they were shivering under the cold wind. Gajeel opened the great big doors to the building and they were silent as they opened. He stepped in the dark cathedral with Juvia by his side.

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	11. Chapter 11

**_This one is short but has more dialogue than usual. Hope you enjoy it!_**

 ** _Thank you to_** elliemystic, Littlestme _**for following and/or Favoriting.**_

 _ **Thank you to**_ Aquatic Lunar Aspen Tribute, Littlestme, guest _**for reviewing.**_

 ** _Chapter 11_**

Levy squinted against the darkness trying to make sure she didn't trip over any of the steps in the place where she was. She hadn't known but apparently she slept here instead of her actually house. 'She' being Mrs. Evangeline, of course.

It hadn't been Levy's idea to go search around her house in the city, it had been Master's idea, not that she had really disagreed. She had always appeared when Levy did a heist at a nobles house, at first Levy had been convinced that it was just a coincidence, but by the fifth time she was doubting herself.

Levy was supposed to be looking for letters that she had received that had information about when and where Levy would steal, according to Master, but other than that she was on her own. Some of the letters might be old because when Levy had first saw her during a robbery, it had three years ago.

Levy sighed, finding three year old letters that might have been burned was going to be so fun. As she thought that she almost tripped over a step, an image flashed through her head. It was her lying in the dark with blood pooling around her and- She shook her head to clear the image and turned toward the tapestry that was swaying slightly.

 _That would be a good place to hide something,_ she thought as she observed the weaving for a minute or so. She nodded to herself, grabbed the weaving, and pulled it away from wall to find a box in a crevice in the wall. She carefully lifted the box from its hiding place, making sure not to bump it against the wall. She then laid it on the floor that had carpet which muffled the sound of the box falling the last two inches, much to her relief.

Before she opened it, she crouched down and took a moment wipe her sweaty forehead and fan her hot face, _Why is it so hot in here?_ Once she had cooled down, admittedly not much, Levy opened the box which was not locked.

She couldn't see much other than the shape of the object or objects in the box, it looked like letters but she couldn't be sure, so she moved her hand toward them. That was a mistake.

 _Crinkle, crackle, crinkle._

 _Damn,_ she thought. I forgot that paper makes noise much less old paper. So she picked up the box and stood up, wincing when she heard her knees pop. Levy went toward the doorway and snuck out after looking both ways.

Once she was outside and not on her property, Levy acted very relaxed and normal, careful not to attract unwanted attention, but soon stop for she had realized that it was empty. It was after all midnight or near midnight anyway.

```~`~~~~~``~~~`~~~The Next Day```~~`~~~```~~~~`~~~````~~~~~~~```~`~```~``~~

Levy was at the guild enjoying herself by reading and occasionally stopping to listen to Nastu and Lucy or sometimes Natsu, Gray, and Erza. It would depend but either one was entertaining if the book that she was reading wasn't.

"You ate all the food in my frigde, AGAIN!"

"I was hungry, Luce," Natsu said with his puppy eyes.

"Get another excuse cause I'm not buying it! Lucy shouted.

"But it's true." Natsu moaned.

"Argh!"

"Luce."

"Don't talk to me."

"Luc-"  
"No."

"Lu-"

"No" Lucy said ending the conversation (fight?).

"Have you been disturbing Lucy, Natsu." Erza said coming up behind him.

"Er-Erza!" Natsu yelps surprised.

Levy sighed and went back to her book, almost exactly when Master comes out of his office to yell at them. In the end, Master was the one who was screaming the loudest because Natsu said something and Erza was defending the Master and Gray butted in to yell insults at Natsu. So in the end it was complete chaos.

All of a sudden, Master becomes serious and walks toward Levy who was reading her book after getting bored of watching people fight. Nastu, Erza, and Gray are left confused as Master walks away from them.

"Levy."

"Master?"

"It went fine and he is on our side."

Levy relaxed and relief showed on her making her realize that she had been worried and tense about the plan Master had come up with. Master left and went back in his office to figure out if the people who had wanted to do a job were qualified enough to do it without getting caught.

"What was that about?" Levy raised her head to find Lucy.

"Lu-chan!"

"So what was it about?" Lucy said not dropping the subject.

"Umm…nothing much.."

Lucy got a gleam in her eye and then raised her hands, wiggling them, "HeeHee."

"No, Lu-chan, don't!" Levy pleaded as Lucy tickled her but stopped as she started giggling uncontrollably.

Lucy finally stopped when they were both breathless and lying on the stone floor.

"Tell me, Levy!"

"It was nothing." Levy mumbled.

"Yeah right." Lucy said sarcastically.

"It true." Levy said desperately sticking her hands and waving them as if that could prove her point that it was nothing.

"Sure, tell me please!" She said with puppy eyes.

"I can't tell you, but it's really not important."

"That's what I said about my dad and it turned out it was important."

"That was different, it was important, this isn't though."

"Let me decide whether it's important or not, Levy!"

"I can't."

"Fine!" Lucy said stubbornly with anger and hurt in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Lucy." Levy said quietly as Lucy stormed out of the building. As Lucy reached the door she paused and turned back to shout.

"I will find out Levy whether you want me or not!"

Lucy slammed the door leaving Levy alone on the floor getting questioning stares from other members of the guild.

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	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for the wait but I feel as though this is one of the better chapters but tell me what you think. Also I think I've finally worked out the details for this story.**

 **Hope you enjoy and leave a review!**

___**Chapter 12**_

"Welcome." A voice said that sounded elderly and warm despite that Gajeel still jumped in shock, after all they were in a big, dark building and when you hear a voice echo around you, you jump.

"Where are you?"

"Why does it matter?"

Gajeel scowled as his question was dismissed without a second thought, "Why won't you tell me?"

"Anyway, I here you're after someone who happens to be a friend of mine." The echoing voice said sounding stern.

"So you know the thief," Gajeel said excitedly all while still annoyed that the guy still hadn't answered his guestion.

"Yes and I would like you to continue to pursue her on one condition."  
" _The hell_! You're selling out your friend just what kind of bastard are you!?" Gajeel said enraged, he hated when people sold out their friends, even if it would help him.

"I'm not selling her out, I have a condition." The person said patiently as if it was used to people shouting at him.

"Condi-" Gajeel stopped "-Wait, _Her_!? The thief's a girl!"

"Yes." The old person sighed.

"Damn..I was completely wrong then with all my suspects." Gajeel said sounding disappointed while sort of in shock that it was a girl (Girls were not considered very strong).

"Yes you were, now back to the condition."

"Right, what is it." He said sounding annoyed.

"It's not that simple."

"Then what is it?"

"First there is

a story to tell, then comes the condition." The mystery man said.

Al' right, but first who are you?" Gajeel said narrowing his eyes into slits.

"Afterwards." The person promised.

Gajeel scowled, "Fine."

And so the story began…..

JJJJJJJ

Gajeel was still in shock but even in shock he could tell they were leaving something out of the story, some crucial information, but what? Argh, he could probably think for years and not even come close to the truth. Ha, what was the truth these days? Practically everything in the dude's story was contradicting real life, yet it made sense but Gajeel knew it would make more sense when he got the final piece of information. It was like a puzzle, he needed the last piece for the picture to be complete.

These thoughts echoed in his head but never disturbed the silent cathedral that was glowing with the sun's rays because of the sunrise. It would have been picturesque if not for the tall man with spikey black hair.

It had been about three hours since Makarov had gone and about two hours since Juvia had gone. Gajeel knew he would have to leave soon, people would start arriving, it was a cathedral. So he stood up his knees and arms popping being in one position to long and not moving.

He sighed.

Gajeel still had to hold up his end of the bargain they had struck and it was going to be hard but spending three hours in that cathedral had helped him figure out how he was going to pull it off. It was pretty simple but he couldn't tell them how because it would ruin the surprise and therefore ruin his genius plan.

He slowly walked towards the door tired but determined to get his part of the bargain done because if he did he might just get the missing piece of information that he wanted/needed.

JJJJJJJJJJJ

When he got to his office, he saw the stack of piles on his desk and shuttered in fear. The guards next to him sweatdropped but didn't comment, the commander was known to give his paper work to guards who commented.

After five coffee breaks Gajeel was finally done with the paperwork on his desk..until Juvia brought another stack papers.

"Here are some more."

"Why didn't you give them to me earlier." Gajeel growled.

"Juvia did not want to disturb you while you were actually doing work."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Juvia!?"

"Gajeel is usually in a cranky mood when he is working so Juvia did not want to distract him."

"Cranky mood!? What cranky mood?" Little did he know that he was proving his point.

"Juvia will leave now." The door shut behind her and Gajeel slouched back in his chair to continue working.

Another two coffee breaks later, Gajeel was done and excited to put his plan in action. He stood up from his chair stretched and opened the door in his office.

"Juvia!" He yelled.

"Yes."

"Get everyone in the conference room!"

"Yes, sir."

"Good!" Gajeel said still shouting and closed his door again to run through his plan once again.

 _I think I got it…_

"So I have gotten an anonymous tip of where shorty will strike again and when, unlike last time we will have a specific place and a public event won't be happening. So we better catch shorty and if I hear ya'll didn't try I'm going to give you my stack of paperwork, got it?"

"Yes sir!" The guards shouted in unison with only a couple behind.

"Good now listen close!" Gajeel said making eye contact with people he knew got distracted easily, "Shorty will strike at midnight exact so we will arrive at twelve O'five, so we don't scare shorty away. We will then proceed to surround the building, blocking off escape routes, I, with Juvia and a couple others, will go in the building and capture shorty. If we don't succeed, then you better succeed at block off escape routes."

"Yes, sir!"

"I will announce the people who are coming with me in my office so follow me."

Once they reached the office, he got a piece of paper where he had put the names of the people he wanted to go with him.

"All right, Juvia, Zef, and Totomaru, you guys are coming with me."

"Yes, sir."

JJJJJJJJJJJ

They were standing outside the building looking with apprehension. Gajeel couldn't help but think that the Zef guy was a little too excited but he was a newbie so this was probably his first actual catching of thieves/criminals. With that thought dismissed, he looked at the house and could only hope his plan would work.

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	13. Chapter 13

**_Sorry for taking so long to update, schoolwork has been endless these past couple days. But know that if you review I will most likely update faster ^_^_**

 ** _Thank you_** Court818, Aureillia _**for following and thank you**_ SnowFairy (Guest) _**for reviewing! Also thanks to**_ Zorleo _ **,**_ DeadmanSteadman _**for favoriting! If I missed anyone, please tell me.**_

 _ **P.S.- I wrote a Gajevy one shot if you want to check it out, if you like it please review.**_

 ** _Chapter 13_**

Levy was wallowing in guilt.

Even though back at the guild Master had tried to say that Lucy was trying to help her so she shouldn't feel guilty. She still felt it so she had left the guild and gone to her apartment to where she was now.

Levy was worried her friend would do something reckless, she tended to do reckless stuff when her friends were in trouble. She had been willing to go back to her father to make sure the guild stayed hidden from the guards. The more Levy thought about it the more she hoped that Lucy would stay in her room with Natsu keeping her company. Yet the blue haired girl couldn't picture her best friend sitting down and doing nothing, she was a women of action. And she had said she was going to find out what Levy was doing.

The more the petite woman thought about it, the more she became worried and the knots in stomach increased. _This won't end well_ , Levy thought uneasily.

Levy looked at the house and as she gazed at the front door she felt a knot twist in stomach, she had a suspicion if she went through the front door something bad would happen. Despite that, she took the steps needed to cross the grass and get to the front door. She only hesitated when she stood in front of door but she still walked through it once she had picked the lock silently.

The house was not exactly up to date with the style most houses had now but it worked for the person who lived here. It had arches instead of square doorways and was built of wood, rather than the more commonly used bricks of this era.

She quickly scanned the first floor for the book but didn't find it so she hurried up the stairs making sure to check the stair before stepping on it. In old houses there were creaky stairs and Levy had once made the mistake of not checking.

Once she reached the top she allowed the breath she had been holding out and relaxed for a second but as she took another breath she tensed and went back on alert.

She could have sworn she heard noise outside but dismissed as a bird squawking on the street. Which made her break the third rule of thieves; when on a job there is no such thing as being over cautious. The first rule was don't get caught and the second was don't steal someone else's con. There were others but those were the most common most ones.

Levy moved towards the cabinet in the room she had snuck in, she squinted at it trying to see better in the dark room. She opened it hoping it wouldn't creak. It didn't, the blue haired girl let out a sigh of relief before putting her hand in the cabinet

She turned only to feel the coldness of an iron sword pressed against her hot, sweaty neck. The bluenette's heart skipped a beat. In fact, the guards could probably hear her heartbeat pounding, it was so loud, out of panic and fear of being caught.

"Drop the book and slowly walk towards me" a guard said gruffly, she could tell it wasn't the one who was holding the sword to her neck, the voice seemed to come from farther away.

She did as asked of her all while thinking, _This can't be happening_ , and, _This isn't possible,_ when she was right in front of the guard that had talked, another guard talked.

"Let's go see if you have already killed your victim or if we caught you in time," he says but with so much malice, she couldn't help but shiver.

"Zef, control your anger." Came a stern voice that she recognized as Gajeel's from the ball.

As much as she wanted to say she hadn't killed anyone, she didn't for she knew that they would never believe her, no matter how much she would shout that she didn't. It made her feel helpless and angry that she couldn't even say the truth or prove she was innocent to these supposedly guards. 'Fighters of justice', she couldn't help but scoff as she remember their slogan. Even though she was angry, she could feel tears gathering up underneath her eyelids and a lump in her throat, she decided to ignore them and continue as if nothing had just jarred her whole world.

When she reached the room, she paused to pray to some non-existent god before entering. The first thing she felt, or should I say smelled, was the metallic tang of blood that brought back unwanted memories, but she managed to push them back. However, after taking a look at the two dead bodies, which had been hacked at by a dull sword that wasn't sharp enough to cut, she did not have the energy to fight back against the unwanted memory. As she went back to the past she fainted, which shocked most of the guards including the new commander.

* * *

"Mama, Papa, Uncle!" said a little blue haired girl who had just rushed through the front door with the energy only a child could have. As she went to the kitchen only to find no one and have the same result with the den, her face became worried and scared something had happened to her parents.

To reassure herself she called out again, "Mama!" knowing that her mom would hear the panic in her voice and come out of her hiding place. But when she didn't, the little girl ran up the stairs to her parent's bedroom and smelled something weird but was too young to recognize it as blood. She slammed her parent's door open only to find a scene that would scar her forever. Her parents had been hacked to death, along with her uncle, and red shiny liquid had been splattered all over the walls and the ceiling. As she walked in a daze over to her parent's bodies, the little girl noticed that her mother was clutching on to something in her hand. And so she unraveled her mother's stiff, cold fingers to find a trinket she had done a year ago.

When she that particular trinket she snapped. Her sanity snapped. Her will broke. She showed this to the world when she screamed, a horrible scream that someone of her age should not be able to do. In that one scream, she shoved all of her grief, rage, shock, and lastly, love in it. It would have broken hearts had there been anyone alive left in her village, for they had all been killed by the same person. The person who killed her parents. She had stayed there sobbing in shock for about a week before standing up and turning into a new person. Turning another chapter of her life.

* * *

She woke up sweating in a cold, hard bed that was not her comfy, warm bed. Levy went to move her hair out of her eyes, only to find her hands were tied to a post.

After blinking a couple of times to adjust to the dim light from the hallway, she was able to see a bit. Enough to realize that she was in prison of some kind, she was in a cell that had bars on two sides, the other sides were closed off by cement walls. From what she could tell it looked as though the cell to the left of her was empty. There was another cell in front of her across the small hallway but she couldn't tell if it was empty or not, there wasn't enough light. It also seemed that it was underground because the only source of light she had were the lightbulbs in the hallway and she could see the outline of stairs to her right

Levy wished she had a book, there was enough light to read a book, at least she thought so. And it was quiet, it would've been perfect, if only they hadn't taken away the book she had stolen. So maybe it wouldn't be perfect, she _was_ in a prison of some sort, but it would've been nice, at the very least.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a rustle and a squeak of a person moving on a bed.

"Hello?" Levy said quietly, then mentally cursing herself, "hello?!" This time she said it louder and nodded with satisfaction as it echoed in the prison she was in. There was another squeak as though the person had turned to one side but was now getting up.

To her shock, she saw a silhouette of a person in the cell across from her, _so there had been a person in there_ , Levy thought _._

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 ** _Also tell me who you think is the person in the cell..._**


	14. Chapter 14

_**Hey sorry this was late! Also I have decided that I will be updating this story weekly now, sorry, no more twice a week. PLEASE, tell me what you think of this chapter...I'm not sure I like what I did... Please, review!**_

 _ **Thank you to**_ DeadmanSteadman, hananodoku **f** _ **or reviewing. And only one person told me who they thought the person was... :(**_

 _ **Thank you to**_ FireWolf2012, kurogane919, bookgirl360 _ **for following. Thank you to**_ kurogane919 _**for favoriting.**_

 ** _Chapter 14_**

"Who's there?" The silhouette asked shuffling around till the person could stand up without the chains getting in the way. From the high pitched voice, Levy guessed that the person was a she.

"Levy." She didn't see the reason of keeping her name to herself if she was going to stay in this prison forever. And there was something familiar about that voice.

"Levy, as in Levy McGarden from Fairy Tail!" Levy gasped (not registering what she had said) as she remembered why it was familiar.

Flash back

"Hi! I'm Lisanna, and welcome to Fairy Tail!" The white haired girl smiled as she stuck her hand out for Levy to shake.

End of Flash back

"Lisanna!" Levy said as her vision blurred while she rushed forward only to be pulled back by the chains. "I thought you died, the guild thought you died!"

"Well, as you can see, I'm alive and kicking." Levy could just hear the smile in her voice.

"I guess…though what happened?" Levy felt uncomfortable so she continued," Mira wouldn't tell us anything…and Elfman all he would say…he would say that it was his fault..but they never gave us the full story."

"Oh..poor Mira and Elfman." She said to herself quietly but Levy could still hear her, "It's a long story, are you sure?"

"Yeah." Levy said while she nodded.

"Alright, so we were doing a job, a night, of course…."

* * *

Gajeel was tired, grumpy, and sulking. Tired because he had just spent the whole night locking away some criminal that wasn't a murderer. Grumpy because he had a bunch of paperwork and he had to convince fellow officers that she hadn't killed anybody, which would be impossible because the people had already been dead when they had got there. Sulking because…because he was tired and grumpy.

"Would you like some coffee, Gajeel?" Juvia asks as she comes in his office.

"Na, I'm good."

"Are you sure!? Are you sick? Is there something your hiding from me?" The bluenette said getting more and more high pitched as she talked surprised that Gajeel had rejected coffee, he never rejected coffee.

"Damn woman, I'm fine! You hear me! Fine!" Gajeel said over pronouncing the syllables in 'fine'.

"Are you sure? I can take your temperature if you want."

"No!"

"No? You're not fine?"

"Yes! I'm fine."

"If you say so…"

"Yes, if I say so, woman!"

"Anyway, shouldn't you look happier that you caught 'shorty'?" Juvia questioned.

Gajeel straighten in his seat, "I am."

"You can't lie to me, Gajeel." She said sternly as if she was speaking to a child.

"Yeah right, I can too."

"Then why did you just lie to me."

"Be quiet!" He yelled the woman finally getting on his nerves.

"Fine. We can play at that game if you want, just know I'll bug you about it." Juvia said her eyes narrowing. She walked toward the door and shut it.

"Damn woman." Gajeel said for the second time that day before turning back to the paperwork that was needing his attention.

* * *

Zef was going to have a difficult time pulling this off without killing any of the guards but if he had to, he do so without hesitation. He would have allowed the commander to do this for him but he had sensed that he wasn't on the same side as him. So now he had to kill _her_ himself.

* * *

Gajeel had fallen asleep when trying to finish up the paperwork. _Argh.._ It still wasn't finished to his disappointment.

However he forgot about the paperwork once he heard all the noise outside in the hall.

 _Clang. Clang._

It sounded like swords fighting, iron swords, the standard issue for guards who didn't have their own. _Why would they be fighting in the hallway?_ Then he heard a shout, no more like a scream for help. Gajeels heart started beating like crazy and he quickly stumbled to his door, sweating.

He opened the door to have red, sticky liquid sprayed on his face and shirt. The sight he saw would scar him forever. It was Juvia stabbed in chest with blood drippling down her mouth which was wording 'help'.

Gajeel couldn't breathe, sure it wasn't like they were the best of friends but they were still friends, in fact she had been the only friend he had. And here she was dying right in front of him, what kind of friend was he? The one who kept secrets. He remembered this afternoon and wished he could go back and say sorry to her. _Sorry for being such a bad friend, Juvia._

The guard who had impaled her yanked out the iron sword and Juvia collapsed to the floor not breathing. While Gajeel finally snapped out of his daze and shouted for the fallen guard.

"JUVIA!"

He took his elaborate iron sword from the sheath which was hung around his waist and glared at the guard who he recognized as Zef.

"Zef. Why did you do this?" He asked, barely containing his anger, waving his arms at the dead guards in the hallway.

"Ha! Why? Because they get in my way." Zef said pointing his sword at Gajeel,"Just like you, _Commander_." He said with a sneer before charging at Gajeel who was momentarily stunned. However, Gajeel managed to parry just in time and followed up with a riposte that Zef dodged. Gajeel was surprised Zef knew how the art of fencing, he had only been a guard for half a year. Beginners only knew how to defend themselves not how to attack. And to beat Juvia he had to be very experienced and know what he was doing.

Gajeel had a personal grudge against him now and no way was he going to allow him to get away so he changed his stance into one of fighting.

And so the two men fought becoming a blur of grey and the clanging of swords echoed around the hallway. Eventually Gajeel got slower and suffered cuts because of it until finally Zef stabbed him in the stomach. Gajeel collapsed as soon as Zef took it out but still tried to get back up with the help of his sword but Zef quickly kicked the sword from under him making him fall once again. Gajeel could feel himself getting tired and asked Zef the first thing that came to mind.

"Who are you really?"

The last thing Gajeel heard was "Some might know me as Zeref."

One thing Gajeel hadn't noticed that the guards had was the blue haired girl lying on the floor with blood dripping down from a gash on her forhead.

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 _ **Tell me what you thought of Juvia dying.**_

 _ ****Also I am aiming for 22 reviews by chapter 15, please help me achieve that goal!** ^^**_


	15. Chapter 15

**_Hey! Sorry for updating really late, I've known how I want to end this story for a while but I hadn't really figured out the middle. That's why I've been updating slower. Also for people who want the Gajevy sorry but that's for either the next chapter or ch. 16, I'm not sure._**

 ** _Help me reach 23 reviews by chapter 16 please!_**

 ** _Also I'm searching for a Beta because I'm pretty sure I need one so..._**

 ** _Thank you to the people who reviewed, favorited and followed this story._**

 ** _Chapter 15_**

Levy woke up once again in a place she did not recognize. There didn't seem to be anyone in the room with her at the moment but she could hear people talking from other rooms. It looked as though she was on the second floor of an abandoned house. She thought it was abandoned because of the cobwebs and layers of dust on the floor she sat on. From the small window, she could see the roofs of houses which made her assume she was on the second floor.

She could feel dried blood on her forehead and frowned, wondering what happened. Her memory came back in flashes of color and noises till finally she could piece together what had happened.

 _"…so that's it." Lisanna said smiling regretfully thinking of her brother and sister._

 _"I'm sorry." Levy said after a pause of not knowing what to say._

 _"It's not your fault, so there's no need to apologize." The white haired girl said gently._

 _Levy opened her mouth to respond but stopped once she heard the sound boots coming down the concrete stairs. She glanced at Lisanna asking a silent question, the girl nodded, saying she heard the sound too. From the sounds it seemed as though it was just a person but she could not be sure._

 _Unfortunately for them, they could not move to brace or protect themselves from whoever the person was. So they stayed still, not making any noise._

 _Finally, the boots stopped after they had gotten louder at the end and both girls heard a chuckle. And both would describe it as insane._

 _"I have finally caught the rabbit, haven't I, Ms. McGarden?" Said the person. Levy immediately pegged the voice as a male because it was deeper than a women's voice. He had a soft, lilting voice that sound pleasant yet forced at the same time._

 _Levy felt a jolt fear of fear as though someone had injected some in her with a needle when the person said her last name because only two people knew it other than her, master and the person who had killed her family. And it was most definitely not Master._

 _"Ah, the wolf has finally caught up to wounded rabbit that had been running for her fragile life and I can smell the fear rolling off you like waves." He said slowly coming closer, ignoring Lisanna's cry of help._

 _Levy tried to move backwards but as before the chains stopped her from going far. However, when she did this her eyes saw something glint on his shirt. So when she was stopped from going farther she leaned forward to try and see it better. When she saw it clearly enough, her breath got caught in her throat._

 _It was the city guard insignia._

 _'Since when had he been a guard. Had he manipulated them that way they would go after me and then he just had to pick me off after I was captured.' She remembered thinking._

 _After that realization he had rushed forward and stuck his arms through the bars of her cell, grabbed her short hair, and pulled her towards one of the bars. Her forehead hit the rusted bar with a thunk that made Lisanna cringe on the other side._

That was all she remembered so Levy assumed that she had fallen unconscious after that and that hit must have been how she had gotten dried blood on her forehead. She moved to touch it, to see how bad it was, and was shocked that she could move her arms. However, when she tried to move her feet she found they were shackled together around a post preventing her from moving around. But that didn't stop her.

She instead checked the seams of her jeans and t-shirt for her emergency lock picks that she had sowed **(I'm not sure how you spell it)** there just in case she got captured by the guards. Admittedly, she hadn't thought her hands would be tied up too but it would work now at the very least.

Unfortunately, whether it was the guards or _Him_ who took them, her lock picks were gone. But fortunately for her she always put bobby pins in her hair to keep her short blue locks out of her face when she did a heist.

She took them out of her hair which took a minute because after all she had been through, her hair was a mess. The top part stuck together in matts by dried blood and the rest in knots. _Ugh! Come on out already!_ She thinks to herself.

When she finally got them out, she looked around making sure no one was around and stuck them in the lock. She moved the bobby pin in different directions trying to get the feel of the lock. When got a mental blueprint of the inside of the lock in her mind, she turned the bobby pin until she heard a click.

 _Well since that's done, I guess now all I can do is wait for someone to get me because I don't want to try and escape just to get caught again with my handy dandy bobby pins._

And so Levy waited for her knight in shining armor to arrive.

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	16. Chapter 16

_**Hey! Thank you to theb3arjew for Beta-ing this chapter! Tell me if you like this chapter, I love feedback!**_

 _ **We did not reach our goal of 23 reviews instead we stayed at the same number :( Thanks, really appreciate it...**_

 _ **Chapter 16**_

Gajeel woke up around the same time as Levy did. He also woke up to an unfamiliar room, like Levy. He tried to move but when he tried to he gasped and sat back down on a mattress that wasn't his.

"Well prince charming has finally woke up." Said a familiar grouchy voice.

"About damn time." Said a person who Gajeel most definitely knew, Natsu. What was he doing here?

"Are you going to lay there all day or get up and start doing something?" the former voice grunted.

Who was that? Who… Porlyisca!

He groaned as he slowly sat up after bracing himself on the bed. He was covered in bandages that had crimson dots showing. Porlyisca was leaning on the doorway, while Natsu was looking out the window searching for something.

"What the hell happened? And why am I here?" Gajeel demanded. "All I remember is Zef, uh, Zeref killin-," he took a deep breath, "killing Juvia, and other guards."

"Well from what you just told us, Zeref came for Levy and ended up killing several guards while he was at it." Natsu said before shouting, "I want to fight him!"

"Quiet!" Reprimanded the pink-haired lady, scowling.

"Levy?"

"Yeah, the short blue haired girl." Natsu said.

"Oh, short stuff." Gajeel said then frowning, "Wait why does he want her? Makarov never said anything about her being wanted."

~~~Flash back~~

Makarov sat down, crossing his legs, on one of the benches in the cathedral.

"What I am about to tell you happened thirteen years ago, so you probably didn't hear about it or if you did, you won't remember. There was a small lively village-"

Gajeel snorted, "What is this, a fairy tale?"

"Quiet!" Makarov shouted, glaring at him. "Anyway, there was a small lively village and they were governed by the Elder of Script. She was a small but passionate woman who had a daughter. That daughter would be Levy McGarden, who is your thief. How she ended up as a thief is her story to tell but I can tell you that her whole village including her mother and father were killed in cold blood by a certain person.

"Who is this certain person?" Gajeel asked.

"I do not know who, however I do have a guess." Makarov divulged, stroking his chin.

"Ok." Gajeel said accepting that, "so what's the condition you had?"

"First, know that she is not the killer of these deaths. The condition is that you must find the real murderer. I'm sure you won't complain, after all, your job is to make sure justice prevails."

~~~End of flashback~~~

"Why do you think? He didn't want you to get involved and if all went right, you wouldn't have to know." Porlyisca said frowning, and muttered. "He's getting senile."

"What was supposed to happen if all went right?"

"You would capture him before he caught her and then he would be sentenced to death for his crimes. The end. Oh, and you stop chasing Levy."

So basically, they used me.

"But why is she wanted?" Gajeel asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"The guy, Zeref, he kills Elders. And technically she is one cause once her mom died she became one." Natsu explained.

That was the missing piece of the puzzle, that was what Makarov had failed to mention. Gajeel remembered what the people at the ball had said, she was the granddaughter of the Elder of Script. So they were telling the truth about that… "Oh."

"Anyway, we need to get her back before she's killed." Natsu said, worried because if she dies Lucy would be angry and sad.

"Let me guess, I have to go get her." Gajeel said sighing. He wasn't that unwilling after all he would get to help a person and he would get revenge for Juvia. He felt his resolve harden as he thought of Juvia dying for this bastard who had no sense of justice.

"Yeah, cause apparently I don't fight good enough!" Natsu huffed, angry. "Stupid Gray!" he said under his breath.

Porlyisca had enough of this behavior and so she went up to him and hit the pink haired idiot, hard.

"Ow!"

Gajeel sort of liked her now…

"You need to start stretching if you don't want to be sore for the next few days when you practice." She commanded.

…sort of.

* * *

The next few days past quickly.

Gajeel would wake up, get dressed, eat, and then practice till the sun ended only taking a couple breaks in between for lunch and dinner. He didn't show up at work at all. As it turned out, some guards thought he was dead and some thought he got injured so badly, he stayed at home. (He was never absent, only late).

Finally, Porlyisca told him tomorrow he had to go, they had found the location Levy was being held in.

She was being held in an abandoned house on the second floor. He was told to be cautious because the house was on its last legs and could collapse under too much weight. He didn't like that part of course. The part he did like was him killing the damn bastard.

He practiced extra hard with his sword that evening. Natsu had to tell him to stop because or else he would be too exhausted to fight tomorrow. As much as Gajeel didn't want to, he had to admit the idiot had a point.

While they were walking back to the bookstore which was were Gajeel had been staying at, Natsu stopped and opened his mouth then closed it, then opened it again.

"Have you seen Lucy at all?" He said hesitantly.

"No, I don't keep track of bunny girl unlike you."

"Oh, I haven't seen her for a couple of days that's all."

"You're worried."

"Yeah, I guess."

"She'll show up."

Natsu nodded and then resumed walking next to Gajeel.

~~ The next day~~

Today was the day Gajeel would finally be able to get revenge for Juvia. Of course, he was still nervous though he would never show it.

"Do you have everything?" Porlyisca asked.

"Yeah."

"You better come back in one piece because I'm not helping you again, you hear me?"

"Yeah, don't worry."

"Who said I was worrying." She said defensive.

"Never mind, I'm going." Gajeel said walking out of the bookstore. As he walked towards his destination he wondered what would have happen if he hadn't made it his life goal to find shorty. Juvia wouldn't have died, he wouldn't be so over his head, and he wouldn't have to worry about a sociopath on the loose. Well, we all have our flaws, his just created a bigger problem and there was nothing he could do to change it so there was no use thinking about it.

* * *

When he entered the building with his sword in front of him, he immediately understood why they had said to be careful with the house. The door creaked when he opened it and the floorboards shifted under his weight.

He heard the talking that he had heard when he was outside, stop abruptly.

"Come out Zeref! I know you're here!" Gajeel yelled clutching his sword tighter till his knuckles were white contrasting against the black leather of the handle.

"This is useless, you could never possibly defeat me." Zeref said as he came out of the shadows of the old house

Arrogant bastard.

He charged at Zeref who easily countered with his own sword, Gajeel struck again, trying to push him back with the sheer force of his blows. Having already fought him once, Gajeel knew Zeref's pattern of attack and so he had been coming up with ways to counter it during the few days of practicing and warming up for the battle.

Zeref feinted but Gajeel caught him and used it against him by striking at an opening. Zeref managed to block it at the last second but he still got wounded. It continued on like this with Gajeel getting a few nicks here and there, and Zeref getting injured more severely till he stumbled backwards.

"It appears I've been driven in a corner…for now." He said with his eyes narrowing dangerously at Gajeel. "Let us go, Evangeline."

Gajeel stiffened at those words, Evangeline is with him!? The annoying women was working with him; no wonder Levy had been caught. They disappeared in the shadows as they had appeared but not before Evangeline flicked a certain finger at him.

Once he was sure they had left he rushed up the old stairs that creak a little too much for his comfort. All of a sudden, he sees a yellow flash and then he's on the floor with the girl who was with Natsu at the bar on top of him.

Gajeel found himself screaming, "What the heck!?" He goes to help the girl and instead finds himself to be attacked by her friends.

"I'm not letting you near, Levy." The girl said calmly with her eyes shining with determination.

"I freaking come to save her, not to fucking kill her!"

"That's not true." Lucy-he finally remembered her name- said but her eyes no longer showed determination instead they showed uncertainty.

"Then why would I fight Zeref?"

"…"

"Exactly." He said before he switched their positions. Now she was under him and he was on top. "Now I'm going to go get her and you're going to stay here to watch her come out alive."

He walked towards the room leaving Lucy laying on the floor, stunned. He opened the door and strode in only to find a blue haired girl staring at him with shock.

"What, no 'thank you', no 'please help me'?" He cried out dramatically, wanting to get some gratitude from her.

As a response, she smiled slowly, stood up and walked up to him with her shackles falling off. He stared in shock and somewhere in the back of his head he realized that he looked like an idiot so he closed his mouth. Her smile grew at his reaction.

"Who said I needed help, Commander." She said sneering at the end.

He scowled. How did he get roped in doing this?

* * *

"We need to catch this bastard!" Gajeel shouted. He was in the bookstore with Levy, Lucy, Natsu, Makarov, and Porlyisca.

They all nodded agreeing with him but only one of them opened their mouth to talk.

"I suggest that Gajeel and Levy team up to find him." Makarov advised and raised his hands to stop the complaints, "It makes sense, Gajeel was able to make him retreat and Levy knows more about him then everyone here."

He said it with an air of finallty but they still complained.

"I can't work with her, she too short!"

"What?! I'm too short! You're too tall!"

"There's no such thing as 'too tall', shorty!"

"Yes, there is, after your alive aren't you?!"

 _ **Review, Follow, and Favorite, Please!**_


	17. Chapter 17

**_I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN LIKE A MONTH!_**

 ** _Here is the long awaited chapter 17, please review, they will motivate me!_**

 ** _Thank you to all the people who followed, favorited, reviewed and read this story!_**

 ** _Chapter 17_**

They were working late at the local library trying to find clues on where Zeref could have been. Gajeel thought he might have been hiding at Evangeline's summer house, but Levy didn't think so. It apparently 'just didn't make sense' to her. Annoying shrimp.

"I'm almost certain he would go there, shorty, so I'm going." He said gruffly.

She sighed, "Fine, but I'm coming too."

Great, for all he knew she could backstab him, he wouldn't put it pass her. She might not look it but she was devious. Like the devil himself.

"We will leave tomorrow at dawn, got that?"

She nodded before standing up and gathering the letters that she had stolen from Evangeline back in the bag she had brought them in. "By the bookstore, right?"

"Yeah."

They started walking out of the library with Levy pausing to say bye to the librarian and then returning a book she had checked out. Once she was done, she hurried back towards him, who was still holding the door open for her. He couldn't have her saying that he wasn't a gentleman.

"Thanks," she whispered, before saying, "I guess you do have some redeeming qualities."

He stiffened, _how dare she…_

"Just kidding." She smirked as he scowled, "You don't have any."

"Hey?!" He yelled fed up with her teasing, "Take that back!" In his rage, he had grabbed her dress's collar and pressed her against the nearest wall. It was only till he felt her hot breath brush against his nose that he realized how close he was to her, and by the sight of her red cheeks, he wasn't the only one to have noticed.

Their eyes connected and Gajeel was struck by how pretty her brown, doe eyes were, it was enchanting. They were so full of energy and brightness, they seemed to shine. Little did he know that the person he was staring at was having the same thoughts.

She didn't want to stop gazing at his crimson orbs, they were just so vivid that she wanted to stay looking at them forever but she tore her gaze away only to find herself staring at his lips. They looked rough, and in her daze, her arms were raised of their own accord to touch them. But she snapped out of it to save herself from her embarrassment. Just what was she doing? He was a guard for Mavis's sake! She could feel her cheeks heat up as she realized what she had just been thinking and what she had been about to do.

Meanwhile, Gajeel, who had seen her arm raise but then lower out of the corner of his eyes, was caught up in the sight of her flaming red cheeks. The voice inside his head voiced something that he refused to accept, she looked cute.

And somewhere in all this young love, they realized the awkwardness of the situation and of their position.

"Uh- Sorry." Gajeel blurted out to try and relieve the awkwardness only for it to increase by tenfold as he let go of his steel grip on her collar.

Levy titled her head away so that he couldn't see her blush, "Its fine."

Gajeel, however, took it as a sign that it wasn't fine and tried to find words to convey his heartfelt apology only to find that his words were failing him. _Dammit!_

She glanced at him and thought he was still mad at her because he was scowling. Why had she teased him? Oh, right because she had an ego to please.

* * *

The next morning.

Levy got ready to storm the enemy's lair.

First, she tied up her hair in a tight bun which she rarely did, she just put it in a sloppy bun or a ponytail. Second, she brought a small dagger that she had always left untouched in a drawer. And thirdly, she packed her bag.

They were going halfway by carriage because it would only take them so far. As a result, she had to pack a bag as they were most likely going to spend a night outside. Of course, when she had heard this, she had argued tooth and nail about how she wasn't going to stay a night with him, especially alone. Now she felt bad about some of the things she had called him.

Of just two days trying to find clues in the library, she had grown to like him more than she had. Not that it meant that she was falling for him, she had just grown accustom to him. It was a weird feeling for her.

She had never found the time to go dates or meet guys other than the ones at the guild, unlike Lucy, who had always made time for guys only to end up with Natsu, but now she wished she had. She didn't know how to act in his presence, she felt so self-conscious.

"Argh!" She yelled in annoyance, just what was wrong with her?

* * *

He was waiting outside for her with a bag slung over one shoulder, "You ready?"

She nodded, trying not to think about how he was probably judging her attire. She was wearing a dress because she felt more comfortable in the clothes she was wearing than in itchy jeans and a loose T-shirt.

They walked down the street to where the carriage was left for them not talking to each other, too stuck in their thoughts.

Finally, Levy decided to voice a question about something that had been bothering her.

"What happened to the blue haired lady?" Levy asked curious, but regretted her question when his face closed and his eyes flashed angrily.

"She was killed by that bastard, Zeref." Gajeel said while gritting his teeth.

"Oh!" She said while her hand flew up to cover up her mouth, surprised, she hadn't thought he would attack a fellow guard. "I'm sorry, I know that may not make it better but I am sorry."

Gajeel was shocked that he felt grateful at the sincere apology. Several people had said 'I'm sorry for your loss' but they never made him feel like this. What was so special about her? He asked himself before he realized what he was asking.

Levy looked at him concerned, he was bright red.

"Are you ok?"

Gajeel turned even brighter when she leaned in to see better. "I-I'm..." He licked his dry lips and tried to regain control of his thoughts, "I'm fine."

He tried to back away but she just followed him.

"Are you sure? You seem a bit sick."Levy said craning her neck upward to stare at him.

He looked downwards to meet her gaze and once again his eyes got caught in her soft, brown orbs. They usually seemed to sparkle with joy with a certain degree of wariness but now they were tinted with concern over him.

Why was she worried about his well-being? He had almost gotten her killed by catching her. While he was thinking, she was trying to get his attention.

"Gajeel!" She shouted for the fifth time. "Did you become deaf?"

"Huh, what?" Gajeel said shaking out of his stupor.

She went on her tip toes and playfully smack the top of his head. "Play attention."

"Whatever." Gajeel said trying to play it cool, it wasn't like he had just been starring at her beautiful, shini- nope not at all. And it wasn't as if he had thought almost the same thing last night.

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	18. Chapter 18

**So I know it's been a while but I've been having some writer's block (unfortunately) and when I started this I was really into Fairy Tail. And I still am, but I have found a new obsession: D. Grayman (I'm so excited for the anime continuation). Anyway, here is chapter 18, hope you enjoy!**

 **Also there is an IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT at the end so make sure you read it!**

 _ **Chapter 18**_

They sat in silence with the occasional crunch of gravel getting trampled by the wheels of the carriage. Levy, feeling uncomfortable, kept shifting every few minutes, and finally, Gajeel getting annoyed, snapped.

"What is it, shirmp?!"

The bluenette jumped and squeaked, "Nothing! And don't call me shrimp"

"Damn it! Don't say nothing when it isn't nothing!" He growled and unconsciously tightened his grip on the whip which made the horses trot faster.

"Well, I'm not telling you!" The thief smirked and crossed her arms looking absurdly smug.

He, too, could play at that game. "Well, I don't want to know!"

"Then why did you ask in the first place?"

Damn it… _why did she have to be so clever?_ Just as he opened his mouth to retort, he was cut off by the carriage going to fast for their safety. "What the hell?! Stop!" Gajeel yelled while trying to get the horses to stop.

The horses were steadily getting more confused and, as a result, were getting panicked, which both of them (Levy and Gajeel) knew to be bad. Panicked horses meant being bucked off or getting kicked and both were very painful. In their situation, it meant the carriage crashing somewhere and them dying.

Levy, seeing white as the eye's of the horses, quickly looked along the path they were on for any clearing of some sort for them to jump off. Her brown eyes locked onto a place that looked safer than the rocky ground below them now and glanced at Gajeel to alert him. "Get ready to jump off in three, tw-"

"What the hell do you mean by jump off?!"

"-o, one. Now!" She leaped off and as soon as her feet touched the ground, she made herself roll to take the impact off her delicate feet. Gajeel, having no other choice, followed and jumped, but unlike Levy, he didn't roll instead he landed on flat his feet. And then promptly let out a girly scream (that damaged his manly ego), "Owww! It hurts!"

"Why didn't you roll?" She inquired and muttered under her breath, "Idiot."

Having sensitive ears Gajeel heard her but was in too much pain to react. "Ow, I didn't think it would hurt that much."

A niegh distracted them and they both turned to look at the rapidly fading and falling carriage that seemed to have broken down by hitting a bump to fast. The horses had somehow managed to escape the harness and were running to their hearts content.

Gajeel only had one word for it, "..Shit."

Meanwhile, Levy had a couple more, but she was known to have a way with words unlike Gajeel. "There went our only ride. How are you going to be able to fight if you're already exhausted?"

"I'm tough unlike you, shrimp so don't worry about me. Worry about you." He said gruffly and slowly got to his feet with only a slight wince. Once he was standing upright, he looked at the sky which was slowly taking a darker hue, he estimated that it was probably around five o'clock. He wondered if they should continue on by walking, or stay and set up camp here for the night. In the end, he chose the former with the reason that if they were to beat Zeref and his minion, he should do majority of the walking tonight rather than tomorrow.

"Let's walk for now, set up camp later, shrimp."

Her reaction was not the desired one, a nod in agreement, instead it was a nervous glance around and a "are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure. Come on." And he started walking, well, more like limping but he was moving and that was what mattered, right?

"...Fine." Was the reluctant reply with yet another scouting look.

He sighed, _what was it this time?_ "Something wrong?"

"No." It was said a little too fast for it to be true but Gajeel left it as it was, if she didn't want to tell there was nothing to change it. Of course, he could have tried a little harder, but it probably wasn't going to be worth the trouble in the end so he didn't.

As they walked, Gajeel got to see a new side of Levy to his surprise and glee. She was a scaredy cat and Gajeel was making plans to make sure she would never forget it. At even the slightest sound like a rustling of a bush, she would jump and move a little closer to the commander, not that he minded. In fact, he found himself wanting her to get closer to where he could smell he- and that sounded way too creepy, just what was he thinking?!

Eventually when moonlight was the only guidance they had, she was practically clinging to him, to his inner-self's delight. He finally got the courage (girls were scary in general, Levy was extra scary) to ask her why she was being so scared.

"Why are you being such a scaredy cat, shrimp?" But since it was Gajeel, he didn't word to where Levy wouldn't be ashamed.

The girl leaped away, outraged by his audacity, "I am not!"

"Yeah, right," He scoffed while realizing he felt oddly cold without her heat pressed closed to him. "What am I, blind? You're jumping at every sound!"

Coincidently, at that moment he happened to step on a twig that snapped in two under his weight. Which made her flinch and prove his point.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?! You- You bastard!" At his protests, she yelled, "You heartless human being! I don't want to hear your poor excuses!"

He covered his ears as she was screaming to loud and whisper-shouted, "Shut up, will you?!" And sighed, "I didn't step on it on purpose, okay?"

They walked, well Gajeel limped, on in silence as Levy mulled over his reply trying to figure to if he was telling the truth or not until finally she decided to believe him.

"I just don't like the dark… It brings back unwanted memories…" She said quietly, almost hesitantly. "After my parents were killed each time I closed my eyes I saw their dead bodies covered in blood… I wasn't able to really sleep for a whole year but then I met Lucy and Fairy Tail." Her voice was full of hope and happiness when she mentioned Lucy and Fairy Tail at the end.

"I'm sorry." Was all he could say in response while trying to ignore the guilt gnawing him for teasing her earlier.

They reached another clearing soon enough and set up camp. Levy, not wanting to sleep alone in the dark, crept into Gajeel's tent with her sleeping bag. As she fell asleep, she tried not to think about how close she was to him and resisted the temptation to touch the scars on his back.

Meanwhile, Gajeel was trying not think about if he wanted he could wrap her small body up in his arms and pull her closer. He could almost smell her sweet fragrance and as a result almost gave into temptation. Almost.

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 **IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT**

 **I'm not going to abandon this story instead I'm thinking of re-writing some chapters, possibly almost all because I'm not really satisfied with them… Do you think I should?**

 **Also I don't know when I'm going to get around to updating this again but as I said earlier I'm not going to abandon this story, I'm going to finish it. And reviews make me motivated to write… hint, hint, wink, wink...**


	19. Chapter 19

_**So, if you have checked my profile you know this already but this story is coming to an end… this is the last official chapter but there should be an epilogue coming after this. But I'm not going to promise anything.**_

 _ **Anyway, hope you enjoy and leave a review unlike last chapter! *glares***_

 _ **Also, this story almost has 5,000 views!**_

 _ **Chapter 19**_

"Do you really think we'll find him here, shrimp?" Gajeel asked swallowing nervously as he stared at the wooden door.

She shared his fear about what they were about to do; it could kill them or make them heros. But to her, if they didn't get him now when he was still recovering from his wounds that Gajeel had inflicted on him, they probably would never be able to pin him down again. "I don't know but this our best chance, so Gajeel try your hardest to beat him."

He nodded, acknowledging her statement before saying confidently, "Let's go kick some ass!" She couldn't stop the small smile from growing at what he said because it was so… Gajeel-like.

He kicked the door near the handle putting pressure on the lock that creaked before collapsing allowing the door to open. A slight breeze caused it to slam against the wall while the broken handle drooped. Levy winced at the sound, they had hoped to have the element of surprise on their side but then again, Gajeel had just kicked the door open.

"Lady's first," he stated and followed in after her with his hand ready to unsheathe his sword at a moment's notice.

"You know that I could have picked the lock right?" She pointed out casually.

He scowled, "if we are going to break and enter somewhere, we are going to do it on my rules, not some thief's."

"I'm not just 'some thief', I'll have you know." Levy huffed in annoyance.

"Oh, then what are you?"

"Don't use that tone with me, Gajeel Redfox."

"Who gave you the permission to call me by my full name, thief? Also you still haven't answered my question."

"As much as I'd like to tell you, I'm going to have to wait." She whispered, pointing towards the shadow that had started to move, separating itself from the rest. And it, unsurprisingly, looked like Zeref.

Gajeel took out his sword slowly, his gaze staying focused on on his opponent not wanting to miss a single detail. He shifted his grip on the handle till he was comfortable and satisfied with his stance.

"You ready to get pummeled to the ground!" He baited, wanting Zeref to make the first move and expend more energy.

"Did you think I would fall for such an amateur's trick?" Zeref scoffed, "Sorry to disappoint."

Well, there went that plan but he had others so all wasn't lost, yet.

Gajeel attacked at full force not holding back anything because if he was going to win he was going to have to use everything in his arsonal. He swung and was blocked but saw Zeref's arm trembling under the pressure, it seemed he hadn't fully recovered like Levy had thought.

Zeref realized his weakness too and quickly went on the offensive giving Gajeel a hard time but thanks to the training with Natsu, he was prepared for it. He changed stance bending his knees more that way the force under the blows would be slightly less effective in making him lose ground. He stayed in the stance for a couple minutes frustrating Zeref, who knew he had to end it fast or else he wouldn't win.

Gajeel's opponent went wide trying to create more momentum and force to make Gajeel lose his balance but instead found himself wincing in pain; one of his wounds had opened again. Gajeel went to finish him but Zeref gritted his teeth and blocked, ignoring the pain that was shooting up his back.

"Damn it, why can't you just die already!" Gajeel yelled before striking again but his swollen ankle collapsed so he ended up on the wooden floors and hitting his chin. Zeref raised his sword while Gajeel prepared himself for the hopefully quick death. The blade loomed over him coming closer and closer til he couldn't stand it and squeezed his eyes shut.

Nothing came though and so he opened his eyes. "Shrimp!" He gasped, she was standing over him with what seemed like a small dagger that had somehow blocked the death blow.

"Get up and hurry! Natsu didn't teach me much!" She rushed gritting her teeth as her limbs shook from being held in such a strenuous position. Zeref pushed harder and she groaned before letting out a scream and she pushed him back making Gajeel look in awe before rushing to cover her when she collapsed.

"That better not happen again because I won't be able to save you a second time." She grunted before eternally thanking herslef for bringing the dagger with her. It had just saved her life because Gajeel was her protection and without her protection she might as well be chopped liver.

Gajeel heard Levy but didn't respond, he was too busy trying to not get himself killed. Unlike last time they had fought, it was clear who had the advantage: Gajeel. While he may have slipped, Zeref was injured and was lacking the energy and strength to beat him.

Zeref stumbled backwards and Gajeel seizing the opportunity tried to swing at him a second time but the momentum of the first swing was still carrying and he was forced to let one had go to punch Zeref in the face.

Crunch.

Zeref let out a grunt of pain before falling on the the floor, knocked out cold.

"Ha! Take that!" Gajeel shouted triumphantly before leaning on his sword panting heavily.

Levy frowned concerned, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just give me a sec."

She nodded trying to dismiss the unease that was fluttering like butterflies in her stomach. To occupy herself while waiting for Gajeel to catch his breath, she took the rope out of the small bag she had brought and used it to tie up the unconscious man. Once she was done, she gave it one last look to make sure it was fine before moving to where Gajeel was leaning scanning his body to look for injuries.

Gajeel noticed, "I told you, I'm fine!"

"Your ankle," she raised an eyebrow, skeptical.

"Besides that."

"Let me see it." She commanded while rummaging through her bag searching for the bandages she had brought. Gajeel sighed but still held it up for her. She put on her glass and grabbed his foot being careful to be gentle.

It was even more swollen than it had been earlier which made her frown slightly but she brushed it off as because of the fight. It was an assortment of colors, blue, yellow, purple, even a greenish color appeared. She started prodding places wanting to know if it was broken.

"Ow." He winced, there went his pride, "could you be gentler, shrimp?"

"I'm being as gentle as I can. And how many times do I need to tell you that my name is not shrimp!"

"Yeah, yeah, short stuff."

"Or that!"

"Well, it's either that or shrimp." He stated before wincing again, she had poked him a little too hard for his comfort.

"Sorry." She muttered before, "I'd rather shrimp because some people wouldn't think it's for my size… I think."

"Alright, shrimp!"

She groaned, before she looked up in shock. "Evangeline! She might still be here!"

Gajeel got up but stopped when he sway a bit too much, "dammit!"

"Here hold on to me." She whispered as he wrapped his arm around her neck for balance. They hobbled out the door beginning the scavenger hunt for Evangeline.

They found her clutching a knife to her chest staring at them before charging making Levy shriek in surprise. Levy dodged the strike before dropping Gajeel as softly as she could but he still grunted.

"I've got this." Levy declared taking out her handy-dandy dagger.

Unlike Gajeel's fight, her's was short and only succeeded in making her heartbeat faster. Evangeline was clearly inexperienced, she didn't even know how to hold the knife in her hand right. Levy won by disarming her and then hitting her with the back of her dagger.

The guard was surprised to at the least, he didn't know that she could fight and she had been so graceful while she was at it. Something told him that the elegance he had just seen helped the thief with more than just fighting.

"How was that?" She asked.

He swallowed, she looked so pretty. The sweat glistened making her face shine unearthly, her cheeks were flushed from the exercise, and her eyes seemed to dance. His breath got caught in his throat when she crouched down to look at his ankle again and looked at him still waiting for his answer.

He licked his lips trying to form a sentence but ended up leaning towards her until their lips crashed together.

To his surprise, she kissed him back and it was just like he had imagined. Her lips tasted sweet like honey and he pushed harder, caught up in the moment. Finally, they separated when they both needed to get air.

Gajeel soon regretted it when the atmosphere turned awkward and they both struggled for words.

"Um.."

"I, uh."

"You go first!" They blurted out before blushing some more.

Levy leaned forward again and whispered something, "I liked it."

He stared at her in shock before smirking. She smiled back.

This time they both rushed forward and met at the middle.

 **So there should be an epilogue after this and if you have anything you want to happen in there, don't be shy, tell me!**

 **And I've decided that if I do end up re-writing this, it's going to be in a while.**

 **P.S. I just came out with another Gajevy story, Ink decorates Iron. You should go check it out.**

 **Follow, Favorite, and Review!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey, so this is the last chapter of Thieves and Guards and it may have taken a while to come out but it is now here. Hopefully you have enjoyed this story and will enjoy the epilogue.**

 **And for those of you wondering, one day I will most likely rewrite this because I have ideas to make this better and more complex. But as for now this will be it.**

 **Thank you for reading/following (40 followers! Love you people!)/favoriting/reviewing! I really appreciated all of it and for my first story I think this did pretty well. So thanks!**

 **Chapter 20: Epilogue**

"Daddy! Look!" Shouted a six year old boy proudly. The child had wavy, short, black hair and was clutching a square that resembled a wallet in his small fingers. To be specific, Gajeel's wallet.

When the said person patted down his pockets to make sure, he let out a yell of frustration. "Levy! This is the third time in two days! Get the kid to stop stealing!"

There were several thumps before a short, blue haired woman showed up at the bottom of the stairs. She stood for a second before giggling at the situation presented to her. Gajeel's face was red and her son was looking at him with such excitement that she could see Gajeel's frustration slowly fade.

It was funny how much seven years had changed their relationship. At first they had just been comrades though only by a sliver, and even after their kiss, they hadn't truly become a couple. They hadn't been sure if they had kissed because of the leftover adrenaline or because they actually felt that way. In fact now that Levy thought about it, that time in their life had been rather awkward. Neither had known what to do in each other's presence. It had taken Lucy and Nastu for them to accept their feelings towards each other.

Now they had a son that acted like Levy but looked mostly like Gajeel. Levy could honestly say that this had been the happiest she had been for the longest time.

"Con aren't you the smartest?" Levy said fondly ruffling her son's hair. He laughed and smiled while Gajeel's face twisted into a look of mock betrayal.

"You're not supposed to encourage him, shorty!"

Levy ignored him, "To think you were able to get daddy's wallet when daddy is the most cautious person you'll ever get to meet. You'll be able to steal practically anyone's now! I'm so proud of you!"

"Of course I'm cautious! My wife's a well-known thief and my son is now able to steal my wallet. Hell yeah, you know it!"

His wife glanced him, "Gajeel, no cursing in front of him!

Right. That was a bad habit of his. When they had found out she was having a child, she had made him promise that he wouldn't curse around him.

Gajeel had responded by saying he would try. And he had been trying.

"What does 'hell' mean?" Con asked cocking his head with all the child innocence he had with curiosity shining in his wide brown orbs.

"Uh. Well, we can't tell you." Gajeel stumbled while looking at Levy hoping she could thinking up something clever. It was what she was good at. He was the brawn, she was the brains. Though admittedly they both had a little of each.

Unfortunately, Levy looked just as lost as him. "And, um, don't say it in front of anybody."

Con nodded while looking confused. Why couldn't he say it? Why couldn't they tell him what it meant?

"Anyway, you should give me back my wallet." Gajeel changed the subject quickly.

The child grinned and walked up to him. The older male reached for the object only for at the last second it be swiped back.

"Oi! Give it back!" Levy's husband yelled giving chase to the laughing child who held his wallet.

Meanwhile, the woman discreetly stuck out her leg causing Gajeel to fall on his face.

"It actually worked." Levy said disbelieving, "the great guard commander has fallen because of a 'tiny' foot."

"Shut up!" Gajeel snapped while blushing in embarrassment. He jumped back up and ran towards the mischievous boy.

Levy smiled, Gajeel would have a hard time catching him. She had taught him a couple of things not just how to pickpocket. A couple things included being flexible and being slippery which would help him against Gajeel.

This was a good chance to see how well he was and how much he had retained. So far it seemed as though he was a natural just like her but you could never know for sure.

She sighed, today would be fun. And so would be tomorrow and everything after. As long as she had them, it would be fun.

 **Review, please! And favorite!**

 **Readwithcats is officially out of here!**


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